Orioles vs. Athletics prediction and odds for Sunday, Aug. 20 (A's bullpen blowup)

The Baltimore Orioles are nearly at the end of their nine-game West Coast road trip and they’d like to end it with a sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

So far, they are 5-3 out west after last night’s 7-2 win in 10 innings. With that win, they hold a 2.5 game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East.

For Game 3 of this weekend series the Orioles will send Kyle Bradish to the mound for the 23rd time this year. Bradish is 7-6 with a 3.18 ERA and will be opposed by JP Sears who is 2-9 in his 24 starts this season with a 4.27 ERA. 

The 76-47 Orioles are favored over the 34-89 Athletics who currently have the worst record in baseball. 

Orioles vs. Athletics odds, run line and total

Orioles vs. Athletics prediction and pick

The O’s haven’t gotten much out of Jack Flaherty after adding him at the deadline, so it’s up to Kyle Bradish to anchor their starting rotation. Bradish has been strong lately and Baltimore has won all three of his starts in August.

He has an average strikeout rate and below average whiff rate, but he doesn’t walk a lot of batters and has only given up 12 home runs this year. 

He’s far from dominant, but a pitcher certainly doesn’t have to be dominant to beat the Oakland A’s.

Oakland has been getting strong contributions from Zack Gelof who leads them in hits this month after getting called up. The infield prospect has a 1.187 OPS in August with a team high five home runs, but still has just 10 runs driven in.

Despite him swinging a great bat, they have a .699 team OPS this month and are still a league worst 4-12. 

The A’s have a 5.43 ERA this month and their bullpen has been a disaster all year. The same goes for last night when they allowed five runs in the top of the 10th inning.

The A’s are capable of giving up runs in bunches. Even though Bradish and Sears are two of the best starting pitchers on these rosters, I still like the over in the finale. 

Baltimore’s offense has been strong in August especially with Ryan Mountcastle hitting .387 this month. Gelof is giving Oakland enough of a boost that they can help push this thing over the total. 

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change