April 15th AL Free Pick
Oddsmakers Being Tricky Again Making Seattle and Oakland a Near Split
It’s a light MLB betting slate on Sunday as four games have been cancelled due to the weather. When you take into account that Clayton Kershaw (-240) and Shohei Ohtani (-225) are on the mound in their respective games and Justin Verlander (-330) is apparently a lock over Bartolo Colon then the options become even more limited. That’s why the best April 15th AL free bet is one that was lucrative last night, when the Seattle Mariners host the Oakland A’s looking for the sweep.
Oakland Feeling the Love Again
Not much has changed since last night when the A’s (-106) took on the Mariners (-109) in a virtual coin flip in game 2 of their series. It was a high scoring affair on Saturday night but the A’s ultimately fell 10-8, dropping their second straight game of the series and their fourth in the last five games. The offensive output showed Oakland’s potency for scoring – it was their 28th run in the last three games – but also some pitching deficiencies. OF Khris Davis stayed hot with his 4th HR in the last three games but Oakland will need to stop the high-octane Mariners offense to get the W in the April 15th AL free pick.
And the duty of slowing down Seattle’s top 10 offense in baseball falls on Sean Manaea. The left hander is 1-2 on the year but has posted just a 1.74 ERA. Manaea has given up just 4 total ER in three starts (20.2 IP) but has gotten run support of 1, 6, and 0 in those outings. A’s batters are up against the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez today so their might not be much offense to work with again. Unfortunately for Oakland, Seattle batters hit their pitcher well too with a .274 total BA and 4HR in 95 AB.
M’s Offense Is Clicking
The Mariners welcomed back Nelson Cruz last night after he had missed all but 2 games this year with an ankle injury. Cruz was 1-5 in his return, but he’s hit 6-13 (.462) with 2HR against Manaea. Robinson Cano, who is hitting .405 on the year was just 1-4 last night but it showed how deep Seattle goes when two offensive stars struggle and the team still scores 10 runs. Kyle Seager was 3-4 with a HR last night, Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger each had 3 RBI, and Dan Vogelbach hit his second HR in as many nights. The Mariners have a four game set with Houston starting Monday so it’s not known what the lineup will look like today, but the team has shown the depth to put up some runs regardless of who is on the scorecard.
How many runs is Seattle really going to need in the April 15th AL free pick considering that Felix Hernandez is on the mound? The King doesn’t really have his strikeout stuff at this point in his career (8 KO in 15 IP) but he is 2-1 on the year. In three starts in 2018 Hernandez has been good, horrible, and OK in that order. The right hander shut out Cleveland on opening day, gave up 8 ER to the Giants in start two, and buckled down to surrender 3ER over 6.0 IP to KC last time out. King Felix has fared well against these A’s, holding them to a .185 average lifetime. SS Marcus Semien better be in the lineup for Oakland today as he has 4HR in 28 career AB against the Seattle starter.
April 15th AL Free Pick Betting
About 69% of the betting public is on Seattle today, mostly because Oakland’s Manaea has been so good at limiting the opposition’s scoring. There could be a nice lean on the under 8.5 today with two quality starters on the hill – and when the two teams combined for 18 runs yesterday there’s usually a letdown. Even so, the real value is on the Mariners looking for the sweep. Their offense is hot and they’ve hit the A’s starter well. Cano and Seager might not do much against the LH, but the M’s depth should still prevail.
Free Pick: Seattle Mariners -101
