The Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland A’s square off Thursday in MLB action from the Oakland Coliseum. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Oakland Athletics vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction.

Starting Pitching Matchup

The Tampa Bay Rays will send out Jeffrey Springs for the start here and Springs is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 21 strikeouts this season. In his career, Springs is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 9 strikeouts against Oakland. The Oakland A’s will trot out Osvaldo Bido here and Bido is 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA and 45 strikeouts this season. This will be Bido’s first career start against the Rays.

Tampa Bay Rays Recap

The Tampa Bay Rays will try to win the series after picking up back-to-back wins in the series thanks to a 4-2 win in Wednesday’s matchup. A series win would give the Rays back-to-back series wins after sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks this past weekend.

Rays Trying To Make Playoff Push

Yandy Diaz has 128 hits with 25 doubles while Jose Caballero has a team-high 35 stolen bases. Richie Palacios also has 19 stolen bases while Jose Siri has 15 home runs, 39 RBIs and a team-high 136 strikeouts. Brandon Lowe also has chipped in 16 home runs, 48 RBIs and a pair of triples as well this season.

Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win

• The Rays have won each of their last 16 Thursday day games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
• The Athletics have lost 10 of their last 11 day games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
• The Rays have covered the run line in each of their last seven Thursday road games.
• The Athletics have failed to cover the run line in eight of their last 10 day games against American League opponents that held a winning record.

Oakland A’s Recap

The Oakland A’s will look to salvage a split with the Rays after ending up with the loss in Wednesday’s matchup. A split would be a welcome sight for the A’s, who have been racking up positive results since the all-star break, with wins over the Mets and Blue Jays as well as a split with the Giants this past weekend.

A’s Trying To Play Spoiler

Brent Rooker leads the A’s with 115 hits and 84 RBIs along with 29 home runs this season while Abraham Toro has 81 hits and 26 RBIs. JJ Bleday has a team-high 33 doubles, 4 triples, 109 hits and 48 RBIs and Toro has a .241 batting average. Rooker also has 136 K’s at the dish this season, while Zack Gelof has the unfortunate title of leading strikeout bat with 145 strikeouts this season. Shea Langeliers has also chipped in 22 home runs and 61 RBIs.

Why the Oakland Athletics will win

• The Athletics have won 10 of their last 12 games as underdogs following a loss.
• The Rays have lost four of their last five games as road favorites against American League opponents following a win.
• The Rays have failed to cover the run line in 11 of their last 12 games as favorites against AL West opponents.
• The Athletics have covered the run line in 11 of their last 12 games as underdogs following a loss.

Oakland Athletics vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction

I’m on the A’s here. Oakland has started to cool off offensively in recent games, but they’ve been able to rise to the occasion more often than not since the all-star break and I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Bido’s been pitching really well as of late and I think he can have a solid start here against a Rays lineup that I feel is still slightly underwhelming against right-handed pitching. Give me Oakland.