With first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET, the Athletics will face off with the Cincinnati Reds as part of tonight’s 15-game MLB slate. These two interleague opponents opened up the series yesterday, which resulted in a 5-4 victory by the Reds. Jacob Lopez and Rhett Lowder will each take the ball for their respective squads tonight for the second matchup of the series.
Looking at the odds, the Reds enter as -146 favorites and hold +129 odds on the -1.5 run line on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Athletics hold +137 odds of winning outright, with the run total set at 9.5.
Athletics at Reds prediction, preview
The Athletics are off to a 45-68 start to the season, which slots them in fourth place in the American League West. This is also the third-worst record in the entire MLB. The Athletics enter this matchup looking to snap a six-game losing streak and have dropped nine of their last 10. On the season overall, they have gone 51-62 to the run line, and the run total is 54-55-5 to the over/under.
Jacob Lopez will get the start for the Athletics tonight, marking his 15th start and 18th appearance of the season. The left-hander enters with a 5-4 record, a 5.79 ERA and a 1.671 WHIP, with 12 home runs allowed and 61 strikeouts tallied across 70.0 innings pitched. Lopez is coming off an encouraging stretch, as he is posting a 1.65 ERA with just three earned runs allowed across his past four starts. He has only faced the members of this Reds lineup three times, with Eugenio Suarez getting walked in both of his at-bats and Jose Trevino going 0-for-1 against him.
At the plate, the Athletics are slashing a collective .245/.320/.400 with a .721 OPS. They rank 12th in the MLB in hits, 19th in total runs, 13th in home runs, and tallying the ninth-most strikeouts in the league. Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz rank first and second on the team in total hits and home runs, but both are currently on the injured list. Zack Gelof and Brent Rooker are two of the six players on the roster with 10+ home runs, but also remain injured. Tyler Soderstrom headlines the production of the available bodies, with 89 hits, 17 home runs and 50 RBIs. Jonah Heim adds 10 home runs and 29 RBIs of his own, while Jeff McNeil, Lawrence Butler and Carlos Cortes also play important roles.
The Cincinnati Reds sit in last place in the National League Central with a 54-58 record on the season. They are 15.5 games back from the Brewers in the top spot of the division, but are five games back from earning a Wild Card spot. Cincinnati enters this matchup coming off back-to-back wins, and it has picked up victories in four of its past five. On the season overall, the Reds have gone 60-52 to the run line, and the run total is 59-51-2 to the over/under.
Rhett Lowder will be on the mound for Cincinnati, marking his 20th appearance and 17th start of the year. The 24-year-old enters with a 3-7 record, a 5.42 ERA and a 1.518 WHIP, with 10 home runs allowed and 70 strikeouts tallied across 83.0 innings pitched. He has given up two earned runs in back-to-back starts, but conceded eight runs at the hands of the Rockies in his start before this. Lowder has never faced a member of the Athletics’ roster.
Cincinnati is slashing a collective .230/.310/.397 with a .707 OPS. The Reds rank last in the league in hits, 26th in total runs, seventh in home runs and have tallied the third-most strikeouts. Sal Stewart has produced a team-high 108 hits, along with 24 home runs and an MLB-best 86 RBIs. Elly De La Cruz adds 102 hits of his own, 18 home runs and 52 RBIs. Eugenio Suarez adds 14 home runs and 39 RBIs, while Matt McLain, TJ Friedl and Tyler Stephenson also play key roles.
Athletics at Reds pick, best bet
Injuries have hit the Athletics hard and prevented them from reaching their offensive peak. On paper, they have more talent than the results have shown, but the Athletics have been held to four or fewer runs in seven of their last eight. My lean is toward the Reds edging out the Athletics and finding a way to win tonight. However, my best bet for this matchup is for the game total to remain under the 9.5 run line.
Jacob Lopez is off a stretch of encouraging starts with a 1.65 ERA and three earned runs allowed across his past four outings. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 10 of his 17 starts overall. On the other side of the matchup, Rhett Lowder is more talented than he has pitched to show this season. The 24-year-old posted a 1.17 ERA in limited opportunities during his rookie season in 2024 before missing all of last year due to injury. Lowder got off to a rough start to this season, and the eight-run outing against the Rockies three weeks ago was a concern, but he has limited opponents to two or fewer earned runs in five of his past six starts. On the full scale of the season, he has limited teams to two or fewer runs in 11 of his 19 starts. He has two outings with eight earned runs allowed, which have pushed his ERA and stats in the wrong direction in a major way and overshadowed a largely encouraging year.
Pitching aside, both of these teams have trouble generating consistent production at the plate. The Reds rank dead last in hits on the season and 26th in total runs generated. While the Athletics have had more overall success, ranking 12th in hits and 19th in total runs, they are without four of their top six power hitters.
Expect both pitchers to have some success against these middling lineups and for the 9.5 run total to be too high for this matchup. The game total has remained under in nine of the Reds’ past 13 games, with one push across this stretch. Expect the bats to largely remain silent tonight and for the 9.5 run line to be too lofty.
Best bet: Under 9.5 Runs (-107)
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