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Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks
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Bailey Falter finally found the strikeout touch in his last outing with eight Ks in seven innings, but I'm more interested in playing Over on his innings prop here. The A's are back from their East Coast trip coming off their first game in 10 with more than three runs scored, and despite those road struggles they fare worst at home, where they've hit just eight of their 32 homers on the year. That bodes well for a pitcher in Falter who struggled with homers in recent years, surrendering 33 in just 164.2 MLB innings in 2022-23. He threw 85 pitches in his last outing, and in a great matchup, that pitch count will get him Over this total.
We might be more curious at the crowd counts for this series in Oakland, as the visiting Pirates (who get to spend nearly a week in the Bay Area after playing a weekend series across the bridge in San Francisco) are not much of a draw these days. The A's should be attracting more fans based upon their battling style, especially after winning a weekend series in Baltimore, but these are still two of the lowest-scoring teams in MLB. This will be another chance to see Mark Kotsay's effective bullpen in action as Joe Boyle likely doesn't pitch past the fifth inning, while Oakland figures to have its hands full with Bucs ace Bailey Falter (1.56 ERA last four starts). Play Pirates-A's "Under"