The Twins have racked up a pair of victories in their road series vs Oakland. They will send out Joe Ryan for the sweep today. Unfortunately Ryan has been very uneven lately, with three of his last five starts of the outright poor variety. In spit of ten Ks in his last appearance, he gave up five runs in four+ innings. The A's send out young lefty JP Sears, who is much better than his record would suggest. He has pitched well in his last seven starts with a 3.38 ERA, including twelve+ innings of one run ball in his last two appearances.
The Twins problems this year are road games, where they are three games under .500, and left-handed pitching (.221 BA). While the A's bullpen has struggled to a 6.04 ERA L10 games, the Twins' pen hasn't been all that much better at 4.91. The A's have one of the poorest offenses in the league, but if there is any hope for optimism, it is that they have managed eleven runs against the Twins staff in this series.
Seven of ten of Sears last starts have been either wins or decided by one run. With Ryan struggling of late, I like the A's to keep this game close. Take the A's on the run line today.