A pair of squads that have underachieved so far in 2009 will do battle in Oakland on Friday night, and BetUS customers will get their chance to dig into all of the action between the Tampa Bay Rays (6-10, -$509) and the Oakland Athletics (5-9, -$351). This is Tampa Bay’s second stop in a nine-game road trip, which began with losses in two out of three games at Safeco Field in Seattle. The A’s are coming home with losses in four straight games on the East Coast, and will be facing their fourth straight AL East foe. The oddsmakers have lined this sports betting affair at Tampa Bay -135, with the ‘total’ chiming in at 8 under -120.

When LHP Scott Kazmir is on the mound, one thing is almost certain: The Tampa Bay bullpen is going to get a lot of work. So far in three starts this year, Kaz has only thrown 16.2 innings, and hasn’t gotten through seven innings of work once. In fact, the last time the lefty completed seven innings in a start was back on July 21^st last season, ironically against these A’s (20 straight starts). He has only pitched into the 8^th inning three times since the end of the 2006 season and only has one career complete game in 127 starts. In his last outing against the White Sox, the lefty opened the game by throwing ten straight balls, and was booed out of Tropicana Field after having given up six runs in just 4+ innings of work. The bullpen didn’t do him any favors that night, conceding two more runs, and the bullpen ranks 17^th in the majors with a 4.78 ERA. All of that is bad news for a team that has failed to score more than three runs in seven of its L/9 games.

Things aren’t so rosy for Oakland bettors either. Rookie RHP Trevor Cahill has looked solid so far this season, conceding just five earned runs in 17.1 innings pitched, but thanks to an offense that has only scored eight runs in three games for him (six of which were in one game), he is just 0-1 on the season. In his last outing in Toronto, Cahill had some control issues, walking five Blue Jays, but he only conceded two runs and got a no-decision in Oakland’s 4-2 loss. Thirteen walks allowed in 17.1 innings are way too high a number, especially considering the fact that the righty has only struck out five. On this most recent five-game roadie, the A’s failed to reach four runs three times.

It’s hard to like what either offense has been doing lately, but it’s also hard to like much from either starting pitcher. Kazmir will likely throw well, but the question is whether or not those 100 pitches will get him through six innings of work or not. Between an inconsistent Tampa Bay bullpen, and a starter for Oakland who has conceded at least three walks in each start this season, it’s hard to imagine the offenses not waking up in this one.

Rose’s Recommendation: 2* Over 8 +100

(Rating Scale: 1* - 5*)