By Stephen Nover
A’s minus 1 1/2 runs minus $1.05 (run line) hosting Diamondbacks
Unless you’re in the habit of laying monster juice, which I’m not, the only way to fade the Diamondbacks on the road is to play the run line. That’s what I’m doing here with the A’s.
Arizona has lost a franchise-record 17 straight games on the road! The Diamondbacks have lost 29 of their past 35 overall games.
Oakland is 4-1 in its last five games and was idle on Monday. The A’s are 8-0 this season following a day off.
The pitching matchup also lends itself to backing the A’s. It’s Arizona rookie Jon Duplantier versus Chris Bassitt.
Duplantier has been talked about the past couple of seasons as a promising pitcher with a high ceiling. That hasn’t materialized. Duplantier wasn’t good at Triple-A Reno this year with a 7.71 ERA and his big league ERA is 9.35 in two starts. Duplantier last faced the Brewers this past Thursday and surrendered five runs in four innings.
Bassitt has been very solid. Oakland is 9-1 in his 10 starts this year. Only once during his past eight starts has Bassitt walked more than one batter and that was just two.
(Editor’s note: Stephen Nover has his June MLB Game of the Month today in addition to this free selection. If you are interested in Stephen’s sports service please email him at scriber26@gmail.com, or message him via Twitter.)
