Baltimore at Oakland

Oakland has a slender 1.5 game lead over the surging LA Angels. They added Jeff Samardzija to the rotation, but for some reason he seems to be hexed from the win column. Samardzija is just 3-8 on the season despite pitching deep into many games, and lost his last start with Oakland despite a quality start. Chris Tillman seems to benefit greatly every time he takes the mound. He pitches just well enough to win, and is 7-4 on the season. He owns a 6-0 record on the road this season. He has never lost to Oakland in three starts, and last year he allowed just 3 runs in 14 innings of work against them. Baltimore is working magic behind Tillman on the road where they are an impressive 20-6 when he takes the hill as a road dog in his last 26. The Birds have enough offense to be in a good spot here as a dog, so play on Baltimore.