MLB Free Premium Play 08/25: Oakland Athletics @ Tampa Bay Rays

Oakland  at Tampa Bay

MLB - 917 Oakland Athletics @ 918 Tampa Bay Rays (Starting Pitchers: B. McCarthy vs J. Hellickson) With the series tied at 1-1, these two teams will be fighting today to see who will win this key series for the wild card race. Oakland won yesterday's game via a 2-run HR in the 8th inning and they will start today McCarthy, who has been struggling a bit since his return from the DL. He was pounded on his last start against Minnesota, where he allowed a season-high of six runs in 3.1 IP. However, he has always been a very tough matchup for the Rays. Tampa Bay's roster is only hitting .215 BA and .646 OPS against him in 93 AB's and that's because of McCarthy's cutters that puts the Rays hitters in a lot of problems, as they are terrible in batting against this kind of pitch. With McCarthy having had more time to regain his normal rhythm with his pitches since his last start, I expect him to bounce back against a team that really struggles to hit against him. On the other hand, the Rays will start Hellickson and he is coming from two amazing outings, where he allowed just one run in seven innings in each start. He lost 0-1 against Seattle in Felix Hernandez's perfect game and then dominated the Royals at home by allowing just six hits against him. His FIP/xFIP of 1.81/2.65 and 3.24/4.50 on his last two games shows that he has regained his good form and so, he has now the perfect conditions to get revenge on the Athletics for the terrible outing he had against Oakland back in May, where he allowed 5 hits and 3 earned runs in just 3.2 IP. With this being an early game and a series-ending game, with both teams having a rest day tomorrow, I believe both starting pitchers will dominate today, with McCarthy handling the Rays with his cutters, while Hellickson should have another good outing like he had on his last two outings. Therefore, I expect a low scoring game in here and so, I'll be taking the Under. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 917/918 Under 7 (w/ B. McCarthy & J. Hellickson) @ +100 / 2.00 on 5Dimes