Cleveland Guardians vs. Oakland A’s April 29 Betting Preview
It will be an American League battle of Central versus West as the Cleveland Guardians (7-12) take on the Oakland A’s (10-9). This will be the first of a three-game series from Oakland Coliseum with the first pitch Friday scheduled for 9:40 pm ET.
It has been a brutal stretch for Cleveland as they have now lost seven games in a row. On Thursday, they were swept by the Angels after losing 4-1.
Cal Quantrill was solid in the loss, going six innings and allowing three runs (one earned), but he couldn’t get any help offensively. The only offense was an Austin Hedges solo home run in the second inning of the loss.
After splitting a quick two-game series with the San Francisco Giants, the A’s enjoyed a day off on Thursday. In their last game, they took down San Francisco 1-0 on the road.
Betting Odds
The A’s are the slight favorites playing at home Friday night. They are -138 to win while the Guardians’ moneyline sits at +118. The runline features Cleveland +1.5 (-194), and the over/under for total runs is 6.5.
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Pitching Matchup
Cleveland will send struggling righty Aaron Civale to the mound for the opener. This season, he is 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, and has struck out 11 in just 10.1 innings of work.
The A’s will counter with ace Frankie Montas (2-2, 3.28 ERA). In his last start, Montas went 7.1 innings, allowing two runs and striking out eight in a loss to the Texas Rangers.
Will Friday Be The Day The Streak Ends?
Seven games and counting. That is how long it has been since the Guardians last won, back on April 21 when they finished a sweep of the White Sox. As they have been through the whole rotation once already, Aaron Civale will get another opportunity to be the streak-buster on Friday.
Jose Ramirez is the only Guardian to have much success against Frankie Montas in his career. In 13 at bats, he is hitting .308 with a run batted in against the righty.
On the season, Ramirez is hitting .347/.407/.708 with six home runs, 25 runs batted in, and nine runs scored.
Aside from Ramirez, the rest of the Guardians are a combined 2 for 31 against Frankie Montas.
Oakland Turning Heads In AL West
After a fire sale this offseason which saw Oakland ship off Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, and Sean Manaea, among others, most assumed that Oakland would be bottom dwellers in the AL West. While that still may come to fruition, they are 10-9 through their first 19 games and sit just 2.5 games behind the Angels for the top spot.
The A’s have gotten production from some unlikely sources early on. Offensively, they have been led by Sean Murphy (three home runs, 11 runs batted in, 10 runs), Chad Pinder (three home runs, seven runs batted in, seven runs), and Seth Brown (two home runs, 13 runs batted in).
Only shortstop Elvis Andrus has an at bat against Civale in his career. In three at bats, he is hitting .667.
Golden Opportunity To Pick Up A Win
As the Guardians travel to Oakland Coliseum, this weekend is a golden opportunity to pick up some wins. A decimated A’s roster has played above their means thus far, and Cleveland has the ability to steal a couple on the road in this series.
It has to start with better pitching from Aaron Civale on Friday. He is teetering with losing a spot in the rotation if he can’t get it figured out, so this is a big start for the righty.
Frankie Montas will rack up some K’s and can do some damage if the Guardians’ offense isn’t prepared, but with the lack of scoring from Oakland (rank 19th in runs), Cleveland can still win if they can manage to just scratch across a few runs.
They have struggled against Oakland lately (3-11 in their last 14), but this isn’t the same Oakland team as last year.
Cleveland will have to play better in all facets, but don’t be surprised if they snap their losing streak Friday night.
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