Milwaukee Brewers at Oakland Athletics Pick 7/30/19

Milwaukee Brewers (56-51) vs. Oakland A’s (60-47), 7/30/19
Time: 10:07 pm ET Tuesday, July 30
Where: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA
Listed Pitchers: Adrian Houser (4-4, 4.19) vs. Chris Bassitt (7-5, 4.09)
TV: FS Wisconsin, NBCS California

Moneyline: NA
Over/Under: NA

Both the A’s and Brewers are hanging around in their respective playoff races, heading into the opener of a three-game interleague series Tuesday night in Oakland. The A’s would play a wild-card game if the playoff started today, while Milwaukee is just one game back in both its divisional and wild-card race. Who do we like here for our free baseball prediction?

MLB Betting Odds

As of this writing, Tuesday’s MLB betting odds were holding off on lining this game, after the Brewers waited until overnight to confirm their starting pitcher.

Brewers vs. A’s Set-Up

Milwaukee just took two of three games from the Cubs over the weekend, missing out on the sweep by losing Sunday’s series finale 11-4. The Brewers then had Monday off.

Just before that Milwaukee lost two of three to Cincinnati, but just before that they won back-to-back series against Arizona and Atlanta. So the Brewers are 3-1 over their last four series and 8-4 over their last 12 games.

At 56-51 overall Milwaukee trails the Cubs and Cardinals by one game for the lead in the NL Central, and it’s one game out in the battle for the second National League wild-card spot.

Oakland, meanwhile, just split four games at home with Texas over the weekend, winning Sunday’s series finale 6-5 with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. The A’s then enjoyed Monday off.

Just before that Oakland lost two of three to Houston, and just before that they split four games with Minnesota, so the A’s are 0-1-2 over their last three series and 3-5 over their last eight games.

At 60-47 overall Oakland trails the first-place Astros by eight games in the AL West, but it also owns the No. 2 spot in the American League wild-card standings, a half-game ahead of Tampa Bay.

This series is the first meeting between these two teams since the Brewers took three of four from the A’s back in 2016.

Tuesday’s Starting Arms

Bassitt, by our strict standards, is just 4/17 on quality starts this season and only one for his last 11. But he’s been alright as of late. Last Wednesday he gave up four runs and five hits, including a couple of dingers, through six innings of a 4-2 Oakland loss to Houston. But over his last three starts, he’s allowed seven runs – six earned – and 14 hits through 17 innings.

On the season the A’s are 9-8 with Bassitt, 2-1 over his last three starts.

This start will be Bassitt’s first-ever appearance against Milwaukee.

Houser is 0/6 on quality starts this year, to go along with 17 appearances in relief. Most recently, last Friday, he threw 1 2/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief against the Reds. But over his last seven appearances, which included four starts, he’s allowed 17 runs and 28 hits through 22 innings.

The Brewers are 2-4 when Houser starts this year, and they’re lucky to be that good.

This outing will be Houser’s first-ever appearance against Oakland.

Tuesday’s Batting Splits

Milwaukee is batting .249/.332/.449 against right-handed pitching this season.

Oakland is batting against .240/.318/.427 against RH pitching this season.

The Bullpens

The Brewers bullpen owns a 4.48 ERA this season and a 1.29 WHIP while allowing a .707 OPS.

The A’s pen owns a 3.98 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP while allowing a .709 OPS.

Totals Report

• Unders are 54-49 in Brewers games this season.
• Unders are 56-51 in A’s games this season.
• Unders are 29-26 in games played at Oakland Coliseum this season.

Free MLB Pick

Oakland owns the edge in the pitching match-up, and while Milwaukee might hold a short edge in the splits with the sticks the A’s own the better bullpen. As for the line on this game, Oakland should be favored, but not by all that much. We’ll take the A’s for our free MLB pick for Tuesday.