Detroit Tigers (5-7) AT Oakland A’s (6-6)
April 14, 2011 at 10:05 PM EST
Opening Runline:  OAK -1.5 +145, DET +1.5 -165
Current Runline:  OAK -1.5 +135, DET +1.5 -155
Opening Moneyline:  OAK -155, DET +135
Current Moneyline:  OAK -153, DET +143
Opening Total:  7.5
Current Total:  7.5

SP:  DET- P. Coke, OAK- G. Gonzalez

Starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez is off to a hot start and so are the Oakland bats, so it spell trouble today for the Tigers.  They’ve won 4 of their last 5 and with Gonzalez’ 0.69 ERA working in their favor, they could be in line for a 5th victory in 6 games.  Gonzalez also became the first Oakland pitcher in 21 years to record 8 scoreless starts.  Saturday, against Minnesota, he shut out the Twins and allowed only 4 hits over 6 innings, with only two walks.    “It’s actually a stress reliever if you don’t have to get a lot of runs,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said.

Gonzalez recorded 15 wins last season and is projected by PECOTA To go 12-9 with a 3.88 ERA.  As it stands right now, Gonzalez might well blow that out of the water.

Geren was impressed with his team’s offensive effort on Wednesday in a 7-4 10 inning comeback win over the White Sox.   “I just loved the attitude. The guys kept fighting right to the end,” manager Bob Geren said. “We were down and it was going to take putting some hits together, drawing some walks, and we did it.”

Versatile third baseman Brandon Inge is producing for the Tigers and it has been paying off, as the Tigers have won 2 straight now.  Inge homered in the 9th inning on Wednesday as the Tigers went on to win 3-2 over the Rangers.  On Tuesday, Inge scored the winning run in a 5-4 victory in the previous game against Texas.

Commenting on the two game win streak, Inge took an optimistic approach, commenting, “Maybe this can jump-start us and get us going.”

Taking the mound for Inge and the Tigers will be Phil Coke, who has yet to win a game this season, despite having a respectable 4.00 ERA.  He received only 1 run from his offense on Saturday as the Tigers lost 3-1 to the Royals.  In that game, Coke had a horrible second inning, in which he gave up 2 runs, but he finished the day off with 4 2/3rds scoreless innings and recorded 7 strikeouts along the way.  Coke’s PECOTA projections are for a modest 6-4 record with a 4.25 ERA.  Surely, however, he will start far more games than originally projected by Baseball Prospectus.

In his previous two meetings with the A’s, both out of the bullpen, he pitched a total of 4 2/3rds innings while giving up 4 runs in the span.

Some betting trends:

Detroit is 6-13 SU in their last 19 games and the total has gone UNDER in 4 of their last 6 games.  The total has gone OVER in 5 of their last 6 road games and the Tigers are 3-10 SU in their last 13 games on the road.  The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Detroit’s last 12 games against the Oakland A’s and it has also gone UNDER In 7 of the last 8 road games against the A’s.  Detroit is 5-11 SU in their last 16 road games in Oakland.

Oakland is 4-1 SU in their last 5 games and the total has gone UNDER in 6 of their last 8 games.  The total has gone OVER In 4 of their last 6 at home and the A’s are 1-5 SU in their last 6 home games.  The total has gone UNDER in 9 of the last 12 games against the Detroit Tigers and the total has also gone UNDER In 7 of the last 8 home games against the Tigers.  Oakland is 11-5 SU in their last 16 home games against the Tigers.

Given Gonzalez’ dominance in the young season and his promise he showed last season, it’s hard not to favor Oakland in this matchup.  Moreover, they are at home, where they finished 47-34 last season (while having the reverse record (34-47) on the road).