The Oakland Athletics are on an eight-game losing streak and will now face a red-hot Cleveland Guardians team in a four-game series this weekend. Oakland would love to pick up a victory in the series opener on Thursday, but that’ll depend on which version of James Kaprielian shows up.
Will it find a way to snap the streak and pick up a win against Cleveland? Find out in our free MLB betting picks and predictions for A's vs. Guardians on June 9.
A's vs Guardians odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Guardians opened as -178 favorites, and they can now be found anywhere from -175 to -190. As for the total, the number opened at 8.5 and it could end up moving to 9. You have to pay a price to take the Over at 8.5, so the oddsmakers could move it up a little. Keep an eye on this as it gets closer to the start.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until first pitch and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
A's vs Guardians predictions
Picks made on 6/9/2022 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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A's vs Guardians game info
• Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
• Date: Thursday, June 9, 2022
• First pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC Sports Southern California, Bally Sports Great Lakes
A's vs Guardians betting preview
Starting pitchers
James Kaprielian (0-3, 6.06 ERA): Kaprielian had a solid season for Oakland last year, as he went 8-5 with a 4.07 ERA. It looked as though he was finally fulfilling some of the potential that made him one of the top prospects for the New York Yankees a few years back. However, things have really fallen apart for the righty in 2022, and he has allowed four or more earned runs in each of his last three starts.
Konnor Pilkington (1-0, 2.65 ERA): Pilkington was working as a reliever earlier in the year, but he’s in the process of being stretched into a starter. The lefty’s most recent start was a huge step in the right direction, as he pitched five innings of shutout ball in a win over the Kansas City Royals. He also threw 91 pitches in that game, so he should now be ready to work deeper into ballgames.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
A's: Skye Bolt OF (Out), Daulton Jefferies P (Out), Stephen Piscotty OF (Out), Deolis Guerra P (Out), Brent Honeywell Jr. P (Out).
Guardians: Franmil Reyes RF (Out), James Karinchak RP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The A's are 2-5 in their last seven road games. Find more MLB betting trends for A's vs. Guardians
A's vs Guardians picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Run line analysis
It’s hard not to view the Guardians as the clear pick to win this game, but it’s hard justifying backing them at their current moneyline odds. With that in mind, it’s probably wiser to just jump on the run line and hope for a bigger margin of victory, at plus money.
The Guardians might be just 26-26 this season, but they do have some real firepower scattered throughout their lineup. Cleveland is also pretty good against right-handed pitching this year, as the group is fourth in the league in batting average, ninth in on-base plus slugging, and eighth in weighted runs created plus against righties in 2022.
Considering the righty the Guardians will be facing is the struggling Kaprielian, this lineup should come to life tonight. Keep an eye on Jose Ramirez, who is batting .309 with 11 homers and 43 RBI against righties this year.
As for Pilkington, the Guardians just need him to get through four or five innings without blowing up. The lefty proved he’s capable of doing that in his last start, and he now gets an A's team that has been lousy against lefties this year. This matchup is a good one for Pilkington, who just needs to be decent with the way the Guardians can hit righties.
Prediction: Guardians -1.5 (+110 at DraftKings)
Over/Under analysis
The Over is 8-2-2 in Oakland’s last 12 games following a loss, and it’s also 4-0-2 in the team’s last six games against teams that don’t have winning records. All trends point in that direction, which is what I'm going with here.
Now, these two teams will look to build on those trends in a game that features a relatively weak match-up on the bump. Kaprielian has had a lot of trouble regaining his 2021 form, and the Guardians have hit righties hard this entire season. That means that Cleveland should get its share of runs tonight, and you can count on Oakland to chip in. The Athletics haven’t hit lefties very well this year — batting .223 in 558 at-bats — but Pilkington is beatable.
In his last three starts, the Guardians' pitcher has given up 15 hits and walked nine batters in just 12 innings of work. His ERA looks impressive on paper, but early-season work in the bullpen definitely helps shine it up.
Overall, look for the Guardians to score five or six on their own against a struggling pitcher, with the A’s not having to do much to help Over bettors cash in.
Prediction: Over 8.5 (-115 at FanDuel)
Best bet
As previously mentioned, Jose Ramirez is batting .309 with 11 homers and 43 RBI against right-handed pitching in 2022. He has always hit righties extremely hard, and he now gets one that is struggling this season. Not only has Kaprielian been something of a disaster to start the year, but lefty bats have also given him trouble. This season, lefties are hitting .286 against Kaprielian, and that means this match-up with Ramirez could be dangerous.
Ramirez also happens to be coming off of a two-hit game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, so he should be feeling good in this spot. This value is just too tough to pass up here.
Pick: Jose Ramirez Over 1.5 total bases (+100)
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