The Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers are polar opposites. The Dodgers are perennial favorites to make the playoffs, and then some. The A’s are trying to avoid having the worst record ever since the start of baseball’s modern era. Dodgers fans and bettors are looking for a series sweep when the two teams meet on Thursday night. Let’s take a look at the odds to make the best MLB Athletics-Dodgers prediction and bet using OddsShopper’s market-based model.
OddsShopper’s Premium Tool. Athletics-Dodgers.
Looking for winning MLB bets posted daily? OddsShopper has you covered! Check out our MLB articles and our MLB bet shopping pages that use our industry-leading betting model to find plays with positive expected value (+EV) each day. We even have a Parlay Builder! If you’re hungry for more than just the picks we post for free, sign up for OddsShopper Premium today — new users can get their first month for 70% off.
Best MLB Athletics-Dodgers Bet & Prediction: JP Sears
Athletics-Dodgers Odds, via BetRivers
Athletics: +245 | Dodgers: -305
Athletics +1.5: +117 | Dodgers -1.5: -143
Over 8.5: -121 | Under 8.5: +100
There aren’t many bright spots this year in Oakland. The A’s are 30-79 and trying to avoid having the worst record in baseball of any team in the last one hundred years. If there’s anything positive to say about the A’s it might be about Thursday’s starting pitcher, JP Sears. Oakland acquired Sears at last season’s trade deadline from the New York Yankees and he has been a steady hand in their rotation since. Sears has a 4.09 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 2023, striking out just under a batter per inning. He put up very similar numbers in 2022 pitching for both the A’s and Yankees.
Sears might be having a decent season, but it will be hard to continue his success against the Dodgers. There’s few teams that can put a lineup like what he’ll face in Los Angeles. The Dodgers have beaten the A’s 10-1 and 7-13 in the first two games of the series and are third in runs scored in all of baseball. They pose a huge challenge to anyone, let alone a younger pitcher like Sears.
There’s one JP Sears MLB bet that is standing out in Athletics-Dodgers. You can buy Sears to go under 16.5 (-127) outs at BetRiversand have a positive expectation. This Athletics-Dodgers bet won’t make you rich, but it has a 2% positive expected value, with true odds of -132 as it hits about 57% of the time. You won’t want to break the bank, but a small bet worth .7% of your bankroll makes sense using the Kelly Criterion for sustainable staking.
Best Athletics-Dodgers MLB Bet: JP Sears Under 16,5 Outs (-127) at BetRivers
