Kansas City Royals vs. Oakland Athletics
MLB Pick: Oakland -130 odds (May 18th 2013)
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This is a Free play on the Oakland Athletics.

The A’s won Game 1 in a pitcher’s duel between James Shields and Jarrod Parker. Adam Rosales hit an eighth inning home run to seal the deal for Oakland, as they came from behind for the victory.

Oakland will send Tommy Milone to the mound in Game 2, and he’s coming off a loss to Seattle his last time out. Tommy has always been a better pitcher in his home park, and this season is no exception, posting a 2.63 ERA at O.co Coliseum compared to a 4.93 ERA on the road. He’s also been good against the Royals, posting an ERA of 1.20 in his last two starts.
Kansas City will hand the ball to Ervin Santana, who’s been slipping up after a good start to the season. Santana (3-2, 2.79 ERA) allowed four runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 loss to the Mets his last time out. Prior to that he took the decision in a 4-3 loss to Baltimore.

Yoenis Cespedes is 2-for-6 lifetime versus Santana, but both of those hits went out of the ballpark. John Jaso also hasn’t been fooled, he’s 7-for-14 with a home run versus the veteran right-hander.

Oakland appears to have quite a favorable matchup here at home, and the price is very reasonable.

Take the A’s. Be sure to take advantage of all of Jesse Schule’s expert MLB picks for May 18th 2013 at Touthouse.com, Handicapperspicks.com and Accuwager.com

Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners
MLB Pick: Oakland +122 odds (May 10th 2013)
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I think this is an excellent spot for Oakland to break out of its slump. The A’s have lost four straight games after getting swept in Cleveland which was a huge disappointment after winning two of three games against the Yankees in New York.

After a white hot start to the season, Oakland have dropped back down to .500 including a game under .500 on the road. They split their opening season series with Seattle and look to open this series with a win behind Daniel Straily. This will be his fourth start of the season and his third on the road. He tossed a quality start against the Astros while pitching a decent game against the Yankees last time out as he was two-thirds of an inning away from a quality outing. In seven starts last season, he posted a 3.89 ERA so his addition into the starting rotation is no accident. The Mariners have been a bit of a pleasant surprise this season even though they are still three games under .500 overall. They got off to a slow start and have rebounded but they are just 4-10 in their last 14 games following a win. One of the biggest surprises has been the emergence of Hisashi Iwakuma who has a 1.61 ERA and 0.76 WHIP through seven starts, six of which have been quality. He did have a solid season last year but nothing like this however I do not see it lasting here. The A’s were one of the teams that he shut down but the lineup getting another look at him is an edge for the offense. Look for Oakland to open the series with a victory. Play (977) Oakland A’s

MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves +140
The Atlanta Braves may be the best team in baseball this season so there is always value when they come into a game as a heavy underdog like this. You should always play on road underdogs with a money line of +100 to +150 like Atlanta when they have an excellent bullpen whose WHIP is 1.150 or better and their starting pitcher is playing on 5 or 6 days of rest. This system is 64-38 (63%) over the last 5 seasons.

Atlanta is 19-5 against the money line over the last three seasons when playing in road games vs. poor fielding teams that are averaging 0.75 or more errors per game on the season. The Nationals have 8 errors in 9 games this season. Atlanta is hot offensively scoring 5.7 runs per game against right handed starters. They should be taking batting practice late in the game against a Nationals bullpen that has a 5.76 ERA this season. -Jimmy Boyd

MLB Pick: Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics Under 7
Tigers RH Justin Verlander (1-1, 2.19 ERA) vs. Athletics LH Brett Anderson (1-1, 1.38)
Verlander Motowns starter today has pitched well against the As in the past and allowed just one run in his two victories in the American League Division Series against them last season, including a complete-game shutout in the deciding Game 5 conflict. Verlander has started his current campaign in strong form (16 KOs in 13 innings) and Im betting that will continue in this spot! Meanwhile Brett Anderson, starts for the As. He shutdown the Tigers and held them scoreless for six innings in Game 4 of the 2012 ALDS. The Southpaw hurler is a stable 2-2 with a 3.78 ERA in four regular season outings against Detroit. Look for these two top quality starters to help keep this contest on the low side of the number. -Alex Smart

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Oakland Athletics vs. Houston Astros
MLB Pick: Houston Astros +110 odds (April 6th 2013)
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Free MLB Pick from Doc’s Sports Take #978 Houston Astros (+110) over Oakland A’s (7:10pm ET) People have short memories, and what they have on their minds right now is how the Astros got dominated by Yu Darvish and the Rangers pitching staff earlier this week. The Astros struck out 43 times in that three-game series, setting a record for futility in an opening series. There’s no question that Houston will struggle to score runs this year with their propensity to swing and miss. However, today they get a favorable matchup against a pitcher that they should be able to make some decent contact against. At the age of 39, Bartolo Colon is no longer dominant and has to rely on his control to be effective. He was suspended 50 games last season for using testosterone, so it will be interesting to see how much he has left in the tank without it this season. The Astros will trot out righty Bud Norris tonight. Norris is a quality major league starter who normally keeps his team in the game and gives them a shot to win. I think the Astros have a good shot to steal one here at home. Despite losing 107 games last season, they weren’t terrible at home registering a 35-46 mark. Take the Astros tonight.