The Athletics’ long-awaited drought finally came to an end last night, when they beat the Minnesota Twins, 14-3, in an offensive explosion at Sutter Health Park. First baseman Tyler Soderstrom hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and young shortstop Jacob Wilson went deep as well. It was just the Athletics’ second win in 22 games.
On Friday, the Athletics will welcome a hot team, although not necessarily a good one. The Baltimore Orioles have won their last six games, including a sweep of the Athletics’ division rival Seattle Mariners, but they still sit in the AL East’s cellar overall. Dean Kremer will start for Baltimore, and while the Athletics haven’t yet named a probable pitcher, JP Sears is in line to start.
Let’s break down this matchup with some odds and lines at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Orioles at Athletics prediction, preview
Baltimore started the season horrifically, firing manager Brandon Hyde after slumping to a 15-28 record, and has gone 10-8 since under the tutelage of interim boss Tony Mansolino. That the Orioles are now playing like a playoff-caliber team should be no surprise, given that they went 101-61 in 2023 and 91-71 in 2024. Meanwhile, the Athletics seemed to be a fun, perky unit, getting off to a 22-20 record in the season’s opening quarter, but they’ve since regressed back towards the form they demonstrated in 2023 and 2024, when they went a combined 120-204. Pitching has been the primary concern; during the month of May, the Athletics posted a 6.88 ERA, by far the worst in the league, and also conceded 10 more long balls than any other team. Through the first five games in June, that figure has ballooned even further to 7.16.
There isn’t a Baltimore pitcher I’d call good, but at least Kremer has been better than replacement level this season (something that his teammates Charlie Morton and Cade Povich can’t say). Kremer’s certainly capable of the occasional blow-up — he’s given up four or more runs on five separate occasions this season — but he can also post star-level performances, having conceded one or fewer runs four times. He has solid control — his walk percentage ranks in the 79th percentile — and doesn’t allow many hard hits. Kremer has arguably gotten unlucky this season; despite having a high spin rate, his breaking pitches have resulted in a higher batting average, slugging percentage, and wOBA than expected and his FIP is 35 points lower than his ERA.
I’d consider Kremer better than Sears, though. Sears excels only at avoiding walks, but he induces whiffs at just a sixth-percentile rate and strikes out batters at just an 18th-percentile rate. He was okay in his most recent outing, offering five innings of two-run ball against the Toronto Blue Jays, but it came on the heels of three consecutive horrible starts that nearly doubled his ERA. Between May 16 and 27, Sears pitched 12.1 innings, conceding 19 runs on 24 hits, walking four and striking out seven, picking up the loss in all three instances. The silver lining is that he’s a southpaw, making him a good platoon matchup for the Orioles’ most dangerous hitter, Gunnar Henderson.
Orioles at Athletics pick, best bet
Best Bet: O10.5 Runs (-120)
This is an extremely high line, but I wouldn’t describe how bad these two pitchers were if I didn’t think there was going to be a lot of offense, even with Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers likely to miss the game with an injury. The Athletics’ pitching staff as a whole has been awful, but their offense has still brought plenty of offense to West Sacramento. Plus, it’s going to be north of 80 degrees at first pitch; the ball will fly.
Strong Lean: Tyler Soderstrom or Gunnar Henderson – Either Player 1+ Home Runs (+140)
Have I mentioned that the ball tends to fly in the heat, when it comes off the bat of either Soderstrom or Henderson, when it’s hit off a pitch delivered by either Kremer or Sears, and when it occurs at Sutter Health Park? Henderson and Soderstrom combined for three dingers last night.
