This is a 5* BIG-CHALK CHOKE-OUT on the Oakland Athletics.

A clear pitching mismatch, I don't see the A's coming in complacent whatsoever and look for the focused home side to find a way to get the job done again at the end of the night. Oakland sends ace Sonny Gray (12-4, 2.59 ERA) to the hill; Gray comes in white hot, he was 5-0 with a minsucle 1.03 ERA in July. Note that Gray definitely won't be coming in complacent either, he's coming off a hard-luck loss in which he gave up one run and three hits over seven frames while striking out seven in a 1-0 setback to Kansas City on Friday. And that's bad news for the Rays as Gray is 1-0 with a non-existent 0.61 ERA in two starts vs. them. The anemic visiting side has dropped five of six overall and sends Jeremy Hellickson (0-1, 3.29 ERA) to counter; Hellickson returned to the starting line-up on July 8th after offseason elbow surgery and has not even made it through five innings in all of his three starts since. Most recently the right-hander was shelled for four runs, with two homers in 4 2/3's innings in his team's 5-3 loss to the Angels on Friday. A great spot, Gray comes in with a chip on his shoulder and the hard-hitting A's give him the support he needs; lay the price.

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