Oakland Athletics vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, 4/11/2022 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Oakland Athletics vs Tampa Bay Rays

Date: Monday, April 11, 2022

Location: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL

TV: Bally Sports Sun

Odds/Point Spread: Oakland (+180) Tampa Bay (-220)

The Oakland Athletics (86-76 last season) are hitting the road to Tropicana Field on Monday where they will play the Tampa Bay Rays (100-62 last year). The odds on this game have the Athletics at +180 while the Rays are sitting at -220. The over/under is 8. The pitchers taking the mound are Paul Blackburn and Luis Patino.

Oakland had a slugging rate of .406 and were called out on strikes 1,349 times, while taking a walk on 545 occasions. They had 698 runs batted in as well as 1,283 hits over the course of the prior season, while their batting average came in at .238. The Athletics hit 271 doubles as a unit and knocked 199 balls out of the park. They racked up 743 runs while holding a team OBP of .316. As a unit, the Oakland Athletics compiled 4.6 runs per outing, which was 11th in baseball.

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Athletics pitchers allowed 191 home runs in addition to 687 total runs (12th in the league). They walked 439 players from the other team and their FIP came in at 4.10 as a unit over the course of last year. They had a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.03 and their pitching staff held a collective WHIP of 1.26. The Athletics had a team earned run average of 4.02 in the prior season (13th in MLB), and they struck out 1,332 hitters.

Athletics pitchers stepped onto the hill with players on base 123 times and also had 148 contests in high leverage situations. The relief pitchers tallied 71 holds last year (23rd in MLB). The Athletics relief pitchers recorded a save rate of 58.2% and stepped onto the hill in 138 save situations. They earned 39 saves last year and blew 28 of their 67 save chances. The bullpen inherited 180 base runners in the previous season with 35.6% of those players ended up scoring. The Athletics had dispatched 504 relief pitchers to the mound last year.

The Oakland Athletics had 4,299 putouts in the previous season, as well as 1,320 assists and 72 errors. Their fielding rate held steady at .987 which was 5th in the majors, and had 116 double plays. The Athletics transformed 69.8% of baseballs in play into outs out of 12,897 innings on the diamond, which had them ranked 13th in MLB.

Blackburn has taken the mound for 138 innings and has 77 punch outs thus far in his career. His earned run average is 5.74 (88 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.486. He has given up 167 hits (10.9 hits per nine innings) and has 38 free passes. Blackburn (6-11 career mark) sits with a FIP of 4.70 and he has faced 603 hitters during his time in the majors.

Tampa Bay was sitting with 222 home runs during the previous year to go along with 810 runs batted in. They hit 288 doubles, while taking a walk 585 times as well as putting up 857 runs. The Tampa Bay Rays earned a team OBP of .321 in addition to a batting average of .242 last season. The Rays held a team slugging percentage of .428 and they earned 5.29 runs per contest (2nd in MLB). They struck out on 1,542 occasions (3rd in the league) and earned 1,335 hits.

The Rays had a team WHIP of 1.168 in addition to having a FIP of 3.79 as a unit last season. Their strikeout to walk ratio was 3.39 (1,478 strikeouts against 436 walks). They finished at 11th in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 1,264. They relinquished 184 dingers and they surrendered 4.03 runs per 9 innings (4th in the league). The Tampa Bay pitching staff relinquished 651 runs last year while holding an ERA of 3.67 (593 earned runs yielded).

Tampa Bay had bullpen pitchers take the mound in 64 save chances and they earned 42 saves. They were ranked 7th in MLB with a save percentage of 65.6%, and they dispatched 531 bullpen pitchers onto the diamond last year. Their bullpen pitchers took the field 180 times in high leverage situations and also on 126 occasions with runners on. Tampa Bay bullpen pitchers had an inherited score percentage of 27.7% out of 166 inherited base runners. Finishing with 159 save situations, the Rays recorded 91 holds and 22 blown saves.

Out of their 13,101 innings on the diamond, the Rays had a efficiency on defense of 70.6% (7th in MLB). Tampa Bay Rays twisted 130 double plays and held a fielding percentage of .986 (9th in MLB). The Rays had 1,358 assists, 80 errors and had a total of 4,367 putouts over the course of the prior season.

So far in his MLB career, Patino has given up 87 base hits and he has 95 punch outs in 94 innings pitched. Patino (6-3 record in his career) has a 4.47 earned run average while conceding 8.3 hits per 9 innings. He has allowed 47 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.373 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.7. He has a K/BB ratio of 2.21 and he has faced 418 hitters thus far in his career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (-220) and under 8 runs

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