Oakland Athletics vs San Diego Padres Predictions, Betting Odds & Picks

• Two wild card teams hoping to hunt down division leaders
• Former Yankees prospect the top dog in this pitching matchup
• X-factors to watch

Oakland Athletics vs San Diego Padres Odds

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Oakland Athletics vs San Diego Padres Pick

Our Pick

Both teams need wins as they chase division leaders and hold onto somewhat slim playoff leads. Oakland has been the hotter team of late and its pitcher has had a better season, but is the rookie reliable in a spot like this? Vegas is indicating not to count on it. But what I don’t count on is Paddack turning in two straight solid games.

We like Oakland money line (+130).

Oakland Athletics vs San Diego Padres Betting Trends (As of 7.26)

• Athletics are 11-2 in their last 13 games following an off day.
• Athletics are 11-4 in their last 15 Tuesday games
• Athletics are 8-3 in their last 11 interleague games
• Athletics are 16-7 in their last 23 games with the total set at 9.0-10.5
• Under is 6-1 in Athletics last 7 interleague games
• Under is 7-1 in Athletics last 8 overall
• Under is 5-1 in Athletics last 6 vs. a team with a winning record
• Under is 4-1 in Athletics last 5 interleague games vs. a team with a winning record
• Athletics are 8-3 in the last 11 meetings
• Over is 7-2 in the last 9 meetings in San Diego
• Padres are 9-0 in their last 9 vs. a team with a winning record
• Padres are 8-2 in their last 10 interleague games vs. a team with a winning record
• Padres are 21-6 in their last 27 interleague games vs. a right-handed starter
• Padres are 22-8 in their last 30 interleague games
• Padres are 10-4 in their last 14 interleague home games

Garcia’s 2021 record: (37-33-2)

How to watch Oakland Athletics vs San Diego Padres

Can A’s, Padres Catch Division Leaders by October

They’re in different leagues with different records, but the A’s and Padres can relate to the struggle one another are going through. They’re chasing the Astros (61-39) and Giants (62-37) for the division lead — the best two records in all of major league baseball.

The good news for these teams is if the season ended right now, both would be in the playoffs. The bad news, however, is they would both be the road team in the wild card game — as each has the fifth-best record in its respective league.

Oakland just lost three of four to Seattle over the weekend and now has six different teams within half a dozen games with more than two months still to play.

San Diego’s lead is a bit bigger — no team is within five games — but still, right now it would be staring at a date with the defending World Series champs on the road if it got to October. That’s not a situation any team wants to be in.

Pitching Matchup Worth Watching

Back in 2019, the Padres looked like they had an ace in the making in rookie Chris Paddack. Now, just two years later, there may be questions about whether or not he’s even going to be a starter in the league.

Paddack has struggled this season, his 6-6 record likey better than he deserves, and he’s on pace for career worsts in ERA (5.17) and WHIP (1.30) and has just 84 strikeouts in 87 innings.

While he’s been trending in the wrong direction — his 6.86 ERA across five starts in July is the worst of any month this season — he did have one of his best starts of the year his last time out. Paddack picked up the win by throwing five shutout innings, giving up just three hits and no walks with one strikeout.

On the other side, the A’s are thanking themselves for trading Sonny Gray to the Yankees all those years ago. In return, they got the No. 16 overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft, James Kaprielian.

So far, Kaprielian has the makings of a very nice pitcher. He has a 5-3 record, with a 2.65 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 73 strikeouts in 68 innings over 12 starts. He’s held opponents to three runs or fewer in 11 starts and has just a 1.50 ERA in three starts in July.

X-Factors to Watch

The Padres offense has been rather cold of late. San Diego is just 9-11 in its past 20 games and during that stretch has been held to three runs or fewer nine times (including four of the past five games).

Fernando Tatis and Manny Machado both lead the way with three RBIs apiece over the last week, but nobody has done much in terms of run production lately.

We will make San Diego’s x-factor Eric Hosmer. One reason, his name has been floated in trade rumors, so that’s interesting to monitor as the deadline approaches. Secondly, Hosmer’s numbers are way down against righties this year, something he’s going to have to change.

Hosmer is hitting .266 against righties for little power — just a .699 OPS.

For Oakland coming off of three straight losses, the hottest player without question is Matt Olsen. The home run derby participant is doing what he does best — hit home runs — and went yard four times in the past week including two in the last three days.

Olsen comes into the series batting .318 over the last week with four home runs, six RBI and a 1.224 OPS over the last week.