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Easily the best series of the weekend around the majors is a potential World Series preview as the Oakland A’s and San Diego Padres open a three-game set in the Bay Area on Friday. Both are locks to make the playoffs, and this weekend is their only regular-season meeting.

How to Bet Padres at A’s MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 9:40 PM ET
Where: Oakland Coliseum
Probable pitchers (away/home): Zach Davies/Jesus Luzardo
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: A’s -125, Padres +115 (total 8.5)

Why Bet on San Diego?

The Padres were historically busy ahead of Monday’s trade deadline. They Padres made 6 trades, acquiring 10 players (1 PTBNL) and trading away 14 players (2 PTBNL) for a total of 27 players.

The biggest deal was landing Cleveland pitcher Mike Clevinger. It cost catcher Austin Hedges, infielders Gabriel Arias and Owen Miller, outfielder Josh Naylor, left-hander Joey Cantillo and right-hander Cal Quantrill. Basically, no one the Padres were using this season and prospects. Clevinger debuted Thursday vs. the Angels.

San Diego earlier this week put starting outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day injured list. No reason was given for the move, with manager Jayce Tingler saying only that he hoped to get Myers back in the lineup soon. “We’re not going to get into details. We’re just not allowed to,” Tingler said. Obviously, that brings up concerns of COVID-19. Myers has having a fine season, ranking third on the team with nine homers, fourth with 26 RBIs and had posted a .967 OPS that ranked 22nd in the majors. Greg Allen will play right field most games in Myers’ absence. Allen came over with Clevinger from Cleveland.

Young superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. was voted as the NL Player of the Month for July-Aug., his first monthly award and the 1st Padre winner since Myers in June 2016. Over 37 games, Tatis Jr. slashed .313/.395/.660 with 38 R, 46 hits, 8 2B, 2 3B, 13 HR, 33 RBI and 7 SB. He’s the clear NL MVP favorite.

Jake Cronenworth was voted as the NL Rookie of the Month for July-Aug., batting .356 (36-for-101) with 20 R, 9 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 10 BB, and a .624 SLG across 31 games. He might win NL Rookie of the Year.

It’s scheduled to be Zach Davies (5-2, 2.61) on the mound. Davies won after allowing four unearned runs in 5 2/3 innings last versus the Rockies. All of the runs scored in the first after an Eric Hosmer error. He’s halfway to his 2019 total of 10 wins in 31 starts.

If the Padres reach the playoffs, Davies has an under-the-radar chance for a start in the opening-round three-game series. He has increased his changeup usage this year, and opponents are hitting just .176 against the pitch.

Why Bet on Oakland?

The A’s haven’t played since last Saturday because of at least one positive coronavirus test on the team. Athletics general manager David Forst confirmed to reporters Thursday that pitcher Daniel Mengden was the player who tested positive for COVID-19 last weekend. There have been no new positives in the A’s subsequent rounds of testing, and the team is expected to resume play Friday. Mike Minor, acquired from the Rangers ahead of Monday’s trade deadline, will fill the vacant spot on Oakland’s roster.

Oakland remains without star shortstop Marcus Semien. Semien came down with left side discomfort last weekend and will not be in the lineup when the A’s resume play Friday, but the belief is that he will be able to avoid the injured list. Semien had been in the midst of his worst season since his 21-game stint as a rookie in 2013. The 29-year-old was an MVP candidate last year but is batting just .229/.285/.379 this season. Semien has also seen his walk and strikeout rates trend in the wrong direction, as his 7.3% walk rate and 21.9% strikeout rate are his worst since 2015 and 2017, respectively.

In theory, this would mean that either Chad Pinder or Vimael Machin would get the start at shortstop Friday, but Matt Chapman played short when Semien was out of the lineup in Saturday’s doubleheader, with Machin playing at third.

Some good news early this week when closer Liam Hendriks was named American League Reliever of the Month for July-August. Hendriks, 31, was 2-0 with 10 saves and a 1.10 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 16 relief appearances in July-August. He has successfully converted each of his last 10 saves and has limited opponents to a .143 (8-for-56) batting average.

It’s expected to be rookie lefty Jesus Luzardo (2-1) on the mound Friday. Luzardo was set to pitch Sunday versus the Astros before that game got postponed. Over his seven appearances (five starts) this season, Luzardo has posted a 3.74 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 34:13 K:BB over 33.2 innings.