The Giants (61-49, 28-25 away) travel to take on the Athletics (30-80, 15-39 home) in game one of this interleague matchup. Ross Stripling is getting the start for the Giants while Paul Blackburn is starting for the Athletics. See who I like to pick up the win in today’s San Francisco Giants vs. Oakland Athletics showdown at Oakland Coliseum.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS VS OAKLAND ATHLETICS BETTING PICK

The Pick: Oakland Athletics +1.5 Runs

This game will be played at Oakland Coliseum at 7:07 ET on Saturday, August 5th.

WHY BET THE OAKLAND ATHLETICS:

  • In their five most recent games as the favorite, the Giants have gone just 2-3 against the runline.
  • San Francisco have failed to cover the runline in five straight road games.
  • The Giants are just 1-3 in Ross Stripling’s last four starts.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS TRYING TO CLOSE GAP IN NL WEST

With an overall record of 61-49, the Giants are 2nd in the NL West. When playing at home, they are 33-24 and 28-25. So far, San Francisco has a record of 27-27 against below .500 teams and have played in 35 series, going 17-16-2.

Today marks Ross Stripling’s 17th outing of the season, and he is yet to record a win, with an 0-4 record. His ERA stands at 5.52, while his OBP allowed is .316. Stripling has struck out 48 batters so far and holds a WHIP of 1.34. On the road, his ERA is 4.16 compared to 8.07 when playing at home.

In his last outing against the Red Sox, Ross Stripling allowed one run on four hits over 4 1/3 innings, though he did not factor into the decision. Nevertheless, his performance aided the Giants in their 4-3 victory.

Over their last five games, the Giants are ranked 16th in the league in scoring at 3.2 runs per game. Their season-long scoring average of 4.4 per contest puts them 16th in baseball. In terms of on-base percentage, San Francisco is 14th, with an OBP currently sitting at .316. The team’s collective batting average is .241 (13th).

Over the Giants’ last five contests, LaMonte Wade Jr. has been a standout at the plate, leading the team with hits and boasting a .312 average. This season, Wade Jr. is hitting .268 and has 30 RBIs to his name.

WILL THE OAKLAND ATHLETICS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AT HOME?

The Athletics enter today’s game with an overall record of 30-80 which includes going 19-67 against teams with above .500 records. As of today, they are 5th in the AL West. Across their 34 series, Oakland is 8-25-1 and have records of 15-41 and 15-39 on the road and at home, respectively.

Paul Blackburn is making his 12th appearance of the 2023 season, with a record of 2-2. His ERA stands at 4.83, and he has allowed a batting average of .302. On the road, he is 1-0 with an ERA of 7.44; at home, he is 1-2 with an ERA of 4.56. Opposing teams have a slugging percentage of .464 against him this season.

The Athletics earned a victory in Paul Blackburn’s last outing, defeating the Rockies 11-3. The right-hander logged six innings of work, surrendering nine hits and two earned runs while adding a win to his season tally.

Having gone deep 8 times in their last five games, the Athletics are 5th in that span. At 3.6 runs per game, Oakland is 27th in the league. This figure has come on a team batting average of .222 while hitting a total of 106 home runs (24th).

The Oakland Athletics have been dealt a blow with the injury of Esteury Ruiz, who is out for today’s game. The young slugger has been a key contributor to the team’s offense this season, batting .257 with one home run and 35 runs batted in.