Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Picks & Odds – Best Bets for AL Wild Card Game
- The Oakland A’s registered the fourth-most home wins this season.
- The Tampa Bay Rays had the second-best road record in the Major leauges.
- Charlie Morton was 16-6 with 3.05 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP this season
The Oakland Athletics will host the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card Game. Both teams finished the year strong and could be contenders for the AL Pennant odds. The A’s have played well at home this season but are they the best bet in this showdown or is Tampa Bay worth a flier?
Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays | +1.5 (-165) | +131 | Over 8 (+105) |
| Oakland Athletics | -1.5 (+145) | -141 | Under 8 (-125) |
*Odds taken 09/29/19
A’s Have Strong Home-Field Advantage
Only three other teams notched more home wins than the A’s this season (Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers), so playing this Wild Card game at home is a significant edge. The team is expecting the crowd to surpass 50,000 in size, which would dwarf their 20,521 average.
The A’s have also played well there recently as they’ve won nine of their last 12 contests there. However, it’s worth noting that Tampa Bay is one of the league’s best road teams. Only one other team (Minnesota) compiled more road wins than them.
Morton to Start for Rays
The Rays will put ace Charlie Morton on the mound and that’s not a surprise. He finished the year 16-6 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. The team has won five straight times that he’s pitched and 17 of the last 21. Morton has faced the A’s twice this season and has allowed one earned run and six hits in 13.1 innings of work.
It is worth noting that Morton was better at home than on the road this season. He posted a 2.59 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and allowed opponents to bat .194 at home. On the road, he was at 3.59, 1.23 and .238. Those numbers are still good but that’s a notable jump.
A’s Likely to go With Manaea
It does look like the A’s will go with Sean Manaea as their starter in the Wild Card game. The 27-year-old was injured for much of the year but was dominant in his return in September.
In his five starts this season, Manaea posted a 1.21 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP and a sparkling 30:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s the hot hand right now. The other option is to go with Mike Fiers, who had a great season, but has really struggled in September. He’s got a 7.84 ERA this month.
The other key here is that the Rays don’t bat lefties as well as righties, so Manaea is more attractive. The Rays have a .761 OPS against righties (13th in the Majors) compared to .748 against lefties (19th).
What’s the Best Bet?
Both teams are on a roll entering the playoffs. The Rays were 37-17 in their last 54 games while the A’s are 38-17 in their last 55. However, I like the Rays in this spot. For starters, they play well on the road, so that should mitigate the home-field advantage. Secondly, I trust Morton as he’s been great all year, has playoff experience and had pitched well against the A’s.
While I wouldn’t bet their World Series odds at this point, I do like them to get the win in this spot and move on.
For over 15 years, Dave has been working in mainstream media and sports betting. He hosted a station on Sirius Satellite Radio for four years, and is currently a senior writer for AskMen. He's interviewed hundreds of hundreds of high-profile sports stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Floyd Mayweather.
