How to Bet on Washington at Oakland MLB Preview & Expert Analysis

The Washington Nationals will add the designated hitter for their interleague matchup in Oakland on Saturday afternoon, but that won’t be Bryce Harper. He’s suspended for the game, a nice break for the AL West last-place A’s. The Nationals are coming off a great 3 game series against the San Francisco Giants, sweeping them at 3-0. The Athletics just finished last night a 3 game weries against the Cleveland Indians, which ended at 1-2. The Nats will still be solid MLB favorites.

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How to Bet on Washington at Oakland MLB Preview & Expert Analysis

Last night, the #Nats took a 3-1 lead… And Max Scherzer protected it. #LegendOfMax pic.twitter.com/Yvz7qK8WSx
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 1, 2017

When: Saturday, June 3, 4:05 PM ET Where: Oakland Coliseum Probable pitchers (away/home): Joe Ross/Daniel Mengden TV: MLB Extra Innings Stream: MLB.tv Radio: Washington / Oakland Opening MLB Lines: Nats favored by TBA

Why Bet On Washington?

The Nats, leading the NL East and are still much more talented than Oakland despite not having Harper, the favorite to win a second NL MVP Award. Harper began serving his three-game suspension in Wednesday’s finale against the Giants and he’ll miss the first two with the A’s but be back on Sunday. Harper was originally suspended four games but had it reduced by one. The punishment stemmed from a bench-clearing brawl on Monday after Harper was hit by a 98 mph fastball from Giants reliever Hunter Strickland, who got a six-game ban. The bad blood between the two players stemmed from a pair of home runs that Harper hit off Strickland in the 2014 playoffs. Manager Dusty Baker said he thought the time off might actually benefit Harper, who was in the midst of a mini-slump, going 0 for 11 overall and 0 for 8 with four Ks in the first two games in AT&T Park this week. And, Baker added, he’s not going to be sitting around waiting for Sunday. “You know he’s going to go to work, and like those couple days off really helped [Daniel Murphy], you know, and you see how he responded, and you see how Anthony Rendon responds to a day off and his day off is not only a physical day off, it’s also a mental day off.” It’s Joe Ross on the mound for Washington. Ross (2-1, 6.18) struggled in a losing effort against the Padres on Sunday, surrendering five runs on 12 hits in four-plus innings of work. The right-hander walked one and struck out four on the afternoon. Ryan Schimpf got to him early with a two-run blast in the first inning and Chase d’Arnaud added a two-run single in the fifth. It was also the first start Ross made in which he didn’t get a glutton of run support Ross attended high-school at Bishop O’Dowd, less than four miles from the Oakland Coliseum. The Nats are committed to having him as a starter this year, but if his struggles continue, the next step might be spending some time in the bullpen while he works on his mechanics.

Why Bet On Oakland?

The A’s enter this series having lost five of seven but those were all on the road. In Wednesday’s 8-0 loss to Cleveland, the A's made three more errors, raising their major league-leading total to 55. And they struck out 17 times, giving Oakland 93 in the last seven games. Their 55 errors are 14 more than the next closest team. Oakland finished with 97 errors last season. “At times as a group things get contagious, whether it’s the strikeouts, whether it’s the errors and now you start thinking about what you don’t want to happen as opposed to what you want to happen, and guys get a little bit tight,” Manager Bob Melvin said. The A’s went 4-2 on the last homestand against Boston (3-1) and Miami (1-1) and have won 13 of the last 18 home games. They are 1-7- 0 in road series compared to 5-1- 2 in home series. Oakland is 5-6 (.455) in one-run games, including 1-5 on the road. The 11 one-run games are second fewest in the American League (MIN, 9) and the record is fourth worst. The A’s have a run differential of -49, which is second lowest in the AL. It’s Daniel Mengden (0-1, 13.50) on the mound here. Mengden allowed five earned runs over just 3 1/3 innings Monday in a loss to the Indians in his season debut. Mengden tallied just one strikeout and served up seven hits, including three homers. The 24-year- old got a late start on the year while rehabbing from a foot fracture, but he had posted a 2.21 ERA and 20/5 K/BB ratio in 20 1/3 innings at Triple-A since returning to action. He put up a rough 6.50 ERA in 14 starts with the A’s last season, but has shown an ability to miss bats.