As recently as six weeks ago, the Athletics were an afterthought, a sub-.500 team with a miniscule payroll. But the marathon baseball schedule is a setting for some amazing things. The A’s ripped off a major league-best 27-8 run from June 16 through Friday to emerge as playoff contenders.
As the trade deadline approached, the once-hot Mets became sellers and the A’s turned into buyers. Oakland’s Khris Davis and Matt Olson have combined to hit 48 home runs, two fewer than Yankees teammates Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. (Speaking of amazing, the Yankees went off as high as -525 favorites Saturday — the highest-priced MLB favorite any of us in Las Vegas can remember with ace Luis Severino on the mound.)
It’s time to pay attention to the A’s, who are 35-22 on the road. Frankie Montas is no Luis Severino, but the Oakland right-hander is 5-2 and has allowed only three homers in 53 ¹/₃ innings. Montas opposes Rockies right-hander German Marquez on Sunday at Coors Field, where Marquez has a fat 7.31 ERA in the thin air this season. The disrespected underdog is worth a look.
The play: A’s (+120) over Rockies