Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians August 11 Betting Preview

Wednesday features a matchup of second-place American League teams as the Oakland Athletics (65-48, second in the West) take on the Cleveland Indians (55-56, second in the Central). The Indians will host this one at Progressive Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm ET.

This is the second of a three-game series between the two teams. The A’s took Tuesday’s matchup 4-3 in extra innings.

In the win, the A’s bullpen was spectacular as they went 8.1 innings, allowing just one hit and no runs. This was after starter Sean Manaea went just 1.2 innings and gave up three runs. Seth Brown hit his 14th home run of the season in the victory.

The Indians got a quality start from Triston McKenzie in the loss. He went six innings, allowing just two runs on four hits. Unfortunately, the Indians could not match the A’s in extra innings and lost the one-run affair.

The A’s are the favorites on Wednesday despite playing on the road.

They are -138 to win while the Indians’ moneyline sits at +118. The runline features Cleveland +1.5 (-138), and the over/under for total runs is 9.5.

Pitching Matchup

Oakland will send righty Frankie Montas to the mound for the second game of the series. On the season, he is 9-8 with a 4.10 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and has 140 strikeouts in 125 innings pitched. He has been solid in his last seven starts going 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA.

Cleveland will send out Cal Quantrill (3-2, 3.14 ERA) to oppose Montas. Quantrill picked up the win in his last start as he went seven shutout innings against the Tigers, allowing just four hits and striking out 10.

By The Numbers

Offensively, Oakland has been a slightly better team than the Indians. The A’s rank 16th in scoring, averaging 4.44 runs per game. The Indians rank 19th, averaging 4.34 runs.

It is once again the A’s with the advantage on defense. They rank sixth in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 3.89 runs per game. The Indians rank 16th, allowing 4.56 runs.

A’s Trying To Put Pressure On Division

At 65-48, the A’s have been playing some good ball as of late. In fact, they are 8-2 in their last ten and have trimmed their deficit in the A.L. West to just two games behind the Houston Astros. Trying to keep pressure on Houston, they will look to secure a series win on Wednesday.

This season, the A’s have been led by first baseman Matt Olson. He is currently hitting .287/.379/.576 and leads the team in home runs (28), runs batted in (74), and runs scored (73).

Acquired at the trade deadline, Starling Marte has also been solid for the A’s. In 10 games with Oakland, he is hitting .400/.438/.578 with two home runs and a whopping eight stolen bases. Especially with the season-ending suspension of Ramon Laureano, the Marte acquisition is looking especially savvy for an Oakland team trying to make the playoffs.

Indians Try To Stay Solid At Home

Despite being in second place in the A.L. Central, the Indians sit 10.5 games behind the White Sox, the largest gap between top teams in any division. While their postseason prospects may be shaky, they have at least been respectable at home, where they are currently 29-25.

The Indians will try to build on that home record and even up the three-game series.

Offensively, the Indians continue to be led by third baseman Jose Ramirez. He leads the team in home runs (25), runs batted in (68), runs (73), and stolen bases (13). Ramirez has also had some success against Frankie Montas in his career as he is four for twelve against the righty.

The only Indian who has homered off of Montas in their career is Bradley Zimmer, although that is his only hit against Montas in five career at-bats.

Indians Hope To Ride Quantrill’s Arm

There hasn’t been a whole lot to get excited about with the Indians’ pitching staff, especially with the injuries to Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale. One bright spot, though, has been that of Cal Quantrill.

In 31 games, including 13 starts, Quantrill has pitched well, and after a dominant performance in his last start, the Indians will hope for repeat performance Wednesday.

In a year that has been largely disappointing for Indians’ fans, Quantrill has been a bright spot. Now, Indians’ fans will hope that he can deliver another solid performance against a really tough Oakland team.

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