Interleague play is back for a second installment this season. The Dodgers are opening up a series with the As. The As have been red hot of late. They are technically in first place in the AL West by percentage points—half game ahead of Texas. They are 35-31. Tonight’s game is a match up between first place teams looking to stay a top their respective divisions. The under/over for tonight’s game is 9. The under is even and the over is -120.

The Dodgers have been bouncing up and down lately. They are 4-6 over their last 10, but did get a much needed win last night. They are currently 1 game ahead of the Diamondbacks. In fact, the entire NL west is playing just above .500 ball and the Rockies, Padres and Giants are just two games back. The Dodgers need to win tonight to keep their lead in this tight race. They are sending Brett Tomko to the hill. The Dodgers are a +152 underdog at many sports books.

Brett Tomko has a 5.20 ERA overall and his road ERA is a whopping 7.43. Lately he has been getting tattooed by opposing teams. Three of his last four appearances lasted less than 5 innings—two lasted 3 innings. He is definitely trending downward. He has not faced Oakland this season, since they are in the AL. The Dodgers are hoping to get 6 innings out of him tonight.

Oakland has been tearing up opposing teams. They are 9-1 over their last 10 and everything seems to be falling into place for them. They have won seven games in a row. Over their last 10 games, they have handled the Mariners, Yankees, Cleveland and Twins. In fact, over their last 13 games, they have won 11. Who is the last team to give them trouble? The Kansas City Royals—go figure. The Royals came into Oakland and took two of three. Since then, the A’s have been taking care of business.

Tonight Barry Zito will pitch for the As. He has a 3.53 ERA over all and his home ERA is 3.47. His last two outings were anything but memorable. He pitched against the Indians and the Yankees—both away games. He went seven innings in both games, but game up 6 and 5 runs respectively. Against the Yankees, he allowed seven walks. Still, you can count of getting about 7 innings out of Zito—he’s pretty stable. The A’s bullpen should pitch the 8th and 9th innings tonight.

If you are looking for a play, the over might be it. The under/over is just 9 and both teams have shown a tendency to score. We also have one pitcher, in Tomko, that gives up a lot of runs on the road and another pitcher, in Zito, that has had some bad outings of late. Also since this game is in an American League ballpark, the DH is in effect for the Dodgers. While I think Zito will bounce back, I still think he will give up a few runs. The Oakland bats have been pretty hot lately.