The Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals clash Friday in game 1 of an MLB series at Nationals Park. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Oakland Athletics Betting Preview

The Athletics look for a win after losing 11 of their last 17 games. The Athletics have the worst record in MLB at 33-82. The Athletics pitching staff is 30th in ERA (5.77), 30th in WHIP (1.52) and 30th in quality starts (22). The Athletics offense is 30th in runs per game (3.56), 30th in batting average (.222) and 26th in homers (111). Esteury Ruiz leads the Athletics with 89 hits and 35 RBI, while Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers have combined for 140 hits and 86 RBI. Paul Blackburn gets the ball, and he is 2-2 with a 4.35 ERA and 63 strikeouts this season. This will be Blackburn’s first career game against the Nationals.

Oakland Athletics Team Facts

• The Athletics have lost seven of their last eight games as favorites following a win.
• The Athletics have covered the run line each of their last nine night games against teams that held a losing record.
• The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last seven night games against NL East opponents.
• The Athletics have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
• The Athletics have trailed after 7 innings in four of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.

Oakland Athletics Player Prop Facts

• Seth Brown has hit a home run in four of his last 14 appearances against NL East opponents.
• Shea Langeliers has recorded at least one RBI in three of his last four appearances in night games against NL teams that held a losing record.
• Shea Langeliers has recorded two or more total bases in four of his last five appearances in night games against teams that held a losing record.
• Shea Langeliers has scored at least one run in four of his last five appearances in night games against teams that held a losing record.
• Paul Blackburn has recorded four or more strikeouts in 10 of his last 11 appearances in night games.
• Shea Langeliers has recorded at least one hit in each of the Athletics’ last eight Friday games.
• Esteury Ruiz ranks 2nd in the league in Steals (46) this season.

Washington Nationals Betting Preview

The Nationals look for a win after winning 12 of their last 20 games. The Nationals are 10 games back in the wild card race. The Nationals pitching staff is 27th in ERA (4.91), 28th in WHIP (1.46) and 23rd in quality starts (34). The Nationals’ offense is 21st in runs per game (4.31), 6th in batting average (.257) and 29th in homers (104). Lane Thomas leads the Nationals with 130 hits and 67 RBI, while Joey Meneses and Dominic Smith have combined for 227 hits and 93 RBI. Jake Irvin gets the ball, and he is 3-5 with a 4.93 ERA and 68 strikeouts this season. This will be Irvin’s first career game against the Athletics.

Washington Nationals Team Facts

• The Nationals have won seven of their last eight games as home underdogs.
• The Nationals have covered the run line in each of their last six games against AL West opponents following a road loss.
• The Nationals have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five night games at Nationals Park against American League opponents.
• The Nationals have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last five night games at Nationals Park against American League opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Nationals’ last six home games.

Washington Nationals Player Prop Facts

• Joey Meneses has hit at least one home run in each of the Nationals’ last four home games against AL West opponents.
• Joey Meneses has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Nationals’ last four home games against AL West opponents.
• Joey Meneses has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Nationals’ last five games as home underdogs against AL opponents.
• CJ Abrams has scored at least one run in each of the Nationals’ last six night games against AL opponents that held a losing record.
• Lane Thomas has recorded at least one hit in each of the Nationals’ last 10 games against AL opponents that held a losing record.
• CJ Abrams ranks T7th in the league in Steals (28) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Washington Nationals ranks 30th in the league for home runs allowed this season (171).
• The Washington Nationals ranks 29th in the league for home runs this season (104).
• The Oakland Athletics ranks 30th in the league for runs scored this season (409).
• The Oakland Athletics ranks 30th in the league for hits this season (836).

Randy’s Pick

The Athletics have been fade material for me all season long, and that doesn’t change here. Not sure why the A’s are favored, but it makes no sense to me. The Athletics are the worst team in baseball, their pitching staff is a joke, the offense is a joke. Paul Blackburn may have had a better season than Jake Irvin, but it’s going to take more than that for me to get behind this squad. The A’s are awful and they don’t make bettors money. Give me the Nats and the plus money.