1. What A Weekend In Oakland
What a weekend it was in Oakland, as for a brief time, The Oakland Athletics had possession of first place in the AL West. I’ve written to an extent at how the injury bug has affected Houston, but no team has taken advantage more than the Oakland Athletics. Trevor Cahill pitched one-hit ball for seven shutout on Saturday as the A’s won for the sixth time in seven games.
Justin Verlander was able to play stopper on Sunday with his 200th win, but Oakland is nipping at Houston’s heels. It doesn’t get much easier for Houston now as they face the third place Mariners to begin the week. I still think this is a great opportunity to buy low on Houston, as both their division odds and AL-Pennant odds have plummeted.
2. Likely AL Playoff Preview On Tap
Even with The Red Sox surely busting a few public parlays on Sunday, they are still now 44=16 at Fenway Park and have won 20 of their last 24 games at home. Boston welcomes in The Cleveland Indians in a likely AL playoff preview this week, as both the series and opening game is lined at a pick (-110).
Cleveland has lost only one series since the all-star break which actually says a little bit more than you’d like to think about them being as how they can truly sleepwalk and rest starts as much as they want playing in the least competitive division in baseball. Sit back and watch a preview of October, it should be a good one.
3. Milwaukee’s Playoff Push
Besides reclaiming postseason position with exactly six weeks remaining in the regular season, Milwaukee pulled within 3 1/2 games of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central. The Brewers have won seven of 10 games against the Reds this season and match up against Cincinnati starters with ERAs of 6.33 (Home Bailey) 5.31 (Sal Romano) and 7.94 (Robert Stephenson) in a three-game series beginning Monday at Miller Park.
Next Up: Chase Anderson is 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA in nine career starts against the Reds entering Monday’s 7:10 p.m. CT first pitch at Miller Park. He’ll be working on seven days’ rest. Via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com
