Dodgers Visit Athletics as Oakland Looks for First Win of the Season

Mon, Apr 5, 2021
By Jim Vassallo (Veri.bet Writer)

The Los Angeles Dodgers (3-1) visit the Oakland Athletics (0-4) on Monday, April 5, at 9:40 PM ET at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California.

The Dodgers opened up the season with a 3-1 series victory on the road against the Colorado Rockies. The Athletics were swept in a four-game series at home against the Houston Astros.

The Dodgers have won three in a row after losing on Opening Day and are tied atop the National League West with the San Diego Padres.

The Athletics are already four games out of first place in the American League West and in last place after being swept by division-rival Houston to open the 2021 season.

The Dodgers won the finale of their four-game set with the Rockies 4-2 on Sunday. Julio Urias started for the Dodgers and pitched into the eighth inning.

"There's always a relief when you get out of Coors," manager Dave Roberts said. "Our guys do a great job of embracing the schedule, and this is part of the schedule. It's taxing, physically, mentally on the players, myself. It was exciting baseball all the way around and ultimately to win three of four here was a good start for our season."

Urias allowed just one run on three hits. It was the longest start of the young pitcher's career.

"I felt great, I felt really, really good about everything," Urías said through a translator. "The pitches were all working really well today, everything was going the way I wanted it to be, especially in a place like this."

Dodgers righty Tony Gonsolin was added to the team's injury list on Sunday after making the roster out of Spring Training for the first time in his career.

"That shoulder inflammation, it's something that's been kind of lingering for the last few days," Roberts said. "He went out there and played catch today, didn't feel great so I think it's more being cautious with Tony being a big part of our club."

The Athletics are 0-4 entering the series opener with the Dodgers tonight. Oakland was outscored 35-9 in the four-game series with the Astros. Athletics pitchers allowed eight home runs.

"Look, we don't feel good about it," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "A little bit embarrassing. We played really poorly and they played great. We have to turn things around. It's not just going to happen."

The Oakland lineup was held to just four hits in the loss on Sunday and the bullpen was beaten up after a long four-game series.

Athletics rookie Ka'ai Tom debuted in left field Sunday and then made his pitching debut in the ninth inning to save the bullpen.

"It was because our bullpen was beat up over the course of these four games," Melvin said. "I just didn't want to have to use another pitcher."

Even though it's early in the season, both clubs are dealing with a host of injuries, including the following:

• Athletics: Trevor Rosenthal: (right shoulder)
• Mike Fiers: (right hip)
• Ramon Laureano: (hand)
• Chad Pinder: (undisclosed)
• Sean Murphy: (wrist)
• Dodgers: Joe Kelly: (shoulder)
• Tommy Kahnle: (Tommy John surgery)
• Brusdar Graterol: (undisclosed)
• Tony Gonsolin: (shoulder)
• Caleb Ferguson: (elbow)

The Dodgers enter tonight's contest as -1.5-run favorites over the Athletics. The money line is also for Los Angeles at -153. The Dodgers are the defending World Series Champions and the Athletics have not looked good to begin the season. Place your bets on the Dodgers at -1.5 to win on the road and move to 4-1 on the young season tonight.