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California-based pennant contenders collide when the Padres and A's meet for a three-game interleague series in Oakland starting Friday night. Oakland leads the AL West while San Diego seems a lock for a National League wild-card berth. Who do we like here for our free MLB pick?
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MLB Betting Odds<br />
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Friday's <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/odds&quot; title="MLB Betting Odds">MLB betting odds</a> opened Oakland at around -135 over San Diego, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Early betting action then bumped the A's to -145 and dipped the total to eight.
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Padres vs. A's Set-Up<br />
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San Diego just split two games with the Angels in Anaheim, losing Thursday 2-0. Just before that, the Padres took three of four games at Colorado. Going back a bit further, San Diego is 12-5 over its last 17 games. At 23-16 overall, the Padres trail the division-leading Dodgers by six games in the NL West, but they also, own the No. 4 spot in the National League standings. Meanwhile, Oakland is playing its first game since last Saturday, when it got swept in a double-header by Houston. A positive virus test then resulted in several cancellations for the A's this week. Now, could rust be a factor? Overall, at 22-12, Oakland leads the AL West by two games over the second-place Astros and trails Tampa Bay by just two games in the battle for the best record in the American League. These teams last met back in 2018, when the A's swept four games from the Padres. But that was a very different San Diego team than the one playing this season.
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Friday's Starting Arms<br />
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Rookie lefty <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/306431&quot; title="Jesus Luzardo Pitching Logs">Luzardo</a> is 2/5 on quality starts this season and two for his last two. Last time out, two Mondays ago, he limited Texas to three runs and seven hits through 6 2/3 innings, although Oakland lost that game 3-2. And just before that, he tossed 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball in a 4-1 win over Arizona. For the season, the A's are 4-1 when Luzardo starts, with the unders going 3-2. This will be Luzardo's first-ever action against the Padres, which could give him an edge, at least for the first couple of times through the lineup. <a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/70842&quot; title="Zach Davies Pitching Logs">Davies</a> is 2/7 on quality starts this season, but some of that is due to a short leash. Last Friday, he allowed four runs – although none were earned – on five hits through 5 2/3 innings of a 10-4 San Diego win over Colorado. And over his last five starts, he's allowed just seven ER and 19 hits through 31 1/3 innings, with eight walks and 30 strikeouts. The Padres are 5-2 with Davies this year, with the overs going 4-3, mostly thanks to some good run support. This will be Davies' first start against Oakland since back in 2016 when he was with Milwaukee, and that's already a long time ago.
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Friday's Batting Splits<br />
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San Diego is batting .263 against left-handed pitching this season, with a .337 team OBP and a .468 team slugging percentage. The Padres have also scored ten runs or more four times in their last nine games. Oakland is batting .225/.327/.410 vs. right-handed pitching this season. The A's have also been held to three runs or less five times over their last seven games.
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<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1265030">Padres vs. A's MLB Match-up Stats</a> </span>
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<h2>
The Bullpens<br />
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The Padres bullpen owns a 4.92 ERA this season and a 1.38 WHIP. The A's pen owns an ML-best 1.87 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Numbers like that help this unit rank among the top two or three bullpens in baseball.
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MLB Betting Trends<br />
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San Diego is 11-10 on the road this season.
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Oakland is 13-4 at home this season.
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San Diego is 5-7 against left-handed starters this season.
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Oakland is 14-12 vs. right-handed starters this season.
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Totals Report<br />
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Overs are 21-18 in Padres games this season.
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Unders are 18-16 in A's games this season.
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Unders are 9-7 in games played at the Oakland Coliseum this season.
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