Oakland Athletics (40-81) vs. Washington Nationals (43-85)
Nothing like a battle of the two worst teams in baseball and that is what will be on display on Wednesday when the Oakland Athletics take on the Washington Nationals. These two teams began a two-game set on Tuesday, but this preview was written prior to the conclusion of that contest.
The clubs had not squared off since 2017 when the Nationals took two of three games in Oakland. The Athletics enter as the favorite at -115 with the line set for Washington at -105. The total is set at 8.5 (-110).
The Athletics dropped the first two games of their series against the Yankees, but then came back with great pitching performances to take the final two games, splitting the four-game set. Oakland got a fantastic outing out of Adrian Martinez on Sunday, who gave up one run in 5.1 innings, and the bullpen tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit.
We're hitting the ? button!
Top play of the homestand? It's up to you!@Xfinity | #DrumTogether pic.twitter.com/6VpDXJoARX
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) August 29, 2022
There are a lot of issues with this Athletics team, including that they have allowed 4.61 runs per game, 23rd overall. However, the team allowed just six runs over the final three games of their series against the Yankees and have allowed three runs or fewer in seven of their last nine games. The club will be looking for James Kaprielian to keep that momentum going. The right-hander is 3-8 with a 4.88 ERA in 21 starts. He was rocked for eight runs in 2.2 innings in his last start but had allowed 14 earned runs over his previous 48.2 innings pitched.
The Oakland offense is abysmal, last in baseball in runs per game (3.43) team batting average (.215), and OPS (.621). Things have not gotten any better in August, where they are hitting .214 with 17 home runs and 25 games.