MLB Free Betting Pick June 23rd: Rays at Athletics
Oakland Looks for Another Win As They Wrap Up Successful Home Stand
The A’s have taken 2 of 3 from the Rays this weekend but are just slight favorites (OAK) to get the win in the MLB free betting pick June 23rd. There’s solid value on Oakland in this one considering the Athletics have 5 of the last 6 and wrap up a 9 game home stand on Sunday. The A’s are a solid 24-18 at home on the year.
Tampa Bay Tries for the Split
The Yankees are red hot winning 8 in a row and thus Tampa Bay has fallen to 5.5 GB in the AL East. The Rays have dropped 5 of their last 6 including getting swept at Yankee Stadium. The MLB free betting pick June 23rd is nearly a must-win for Tampa Bay as they head out to face 1st place Minnesota in the next series. The Rays offense has been mediocre so far in the series with Oakland, tallying 6, 10, and 6 hits in the three games. They do have HR’s in each of the contests however (Tommy Pham, Willy Adames, and Ji-Man Choi). The Rays have just 5 HR over the past week as a team.
Ryne Stanek will open for the Rays having not pitched since June 19th. He should be fresh and may go more than an inning considering Stanek has made 2 appearances vs. Oakland this season, holding them to just 1 hit in 2 innings. Tampa Bay has gone 19-9 in Stanek’s last 28 starts. Stanek does have a 5.00 ERA on the road however. Tampa Bay used an opener on Friday, but got 6.0 IP from Yonny Chirinos on Saturday and should have a full bullpen ready for the series finale.
Oakland Looks to Stay Hot
The A’s have won 7 of their last 10 and 5 of their last 6. The A’s wrap up a 9-game home stand on Sunday before an off day Monday. Oakland has had some big offensive outputs so far during this run including an 11-2 win over Seattle, a 16-2 win vs. Baltimore and an 8-3 win over the Orioles. So far the series with Tampa Bay has been pretty low scoring however as the A’s have put up 12 runs in 3 games. The MLB free betting pick June 23rd O/U is listed at 9 runs. Matt Chapman does have a .433 OBP over the last week and Ramon Laureano has hit 3 HR over that span.
The A’s start Brett Anderson on Sunday. The left-hander has been solid in June, especially over his last two starts allowing just 3 ER over 13.1 IP. That includes a June 12th start vs. Tampa Bay in which Anderson gave up just 2ER in 6.1 IP. Anderson also has just a 3.26 ERA at home on the year compared to 4.02 on the road.
Top Trends:
- Rays are 14-4 last 18 Sunday games
- Rays are 1-5 last 6 overall
- Rays are 19-9 in Stanek’s last 28 starts
- A’s are 5-1 last 6 overall
- A’s are 5-1 in Anderson’s last 6 starts
- A’s are 7-2 in Anderson’s last 9 home starts
MLB Free Betting Pick June 23rd
The A’s should have the edge here as Anderson has been much better at home. The Rays are on a long road stretch and haven’t put up much offense as of late.
MLB Free Pick: Athletics -121
