First pitch: Tuesday, 10:05 p.m. ET
Line: Oakland +155, Los Angeles -165, Total: 8

The Angels will be going for their seventh straight victory when they host the Athletics on Tuesday.

The Angeles were seemingly out of the playoff race just a week ago, but this team has won six straight games and is now just 0.5 games behind the Astros for the second wild card spot in the AL. They also happen to be playing the Athletics, who have lost eight of their past 10 games and have the worst record in the AL. On the season, the Angels are 10-7 against the Athletics and that includes a 5-3 record when playing in Los Angeles. On the mound in this game is going to be RHP Chris Bassitt (1-7, 3.07 ERA, 57 K) for the Athletics and RHP Nick Tropeano (2-2, 4.35 ERA, 27 K) for the Angels. Working in Oakland’s favor in this game is the fact that the team is 17-7 against the money line in road games after five or more consecutive Overs in the past three seasons. Los Angeles, however, is an impressive 35-12 against the money line as a favorite of -125 to -175 this season. C Josh Phegley (Concussion) and 1B Ike Davis (Hip) are out for the season for the Athletics, but the Angels will be playing this one at close to full strength.

Chris Bassitt has struggled in his past two starts for Oakland, allowing seven earned runs in just 7.1 innings of work. He has allowed 13 hits over those two starts and will need to do a much better job against an Angels team with a lot of firepower. His only work against Los Angeles this season came in a bullpen appearance on Apr. 29. He pitched well in that game, throwing two innings of shutout ball with three strikeouts. If the Athletics are going to spoil the Angels’ playoff chances then OF Billy Burns (.297, 5 HR, 42 RBI) will need to have a big day at the plate. He enters this game on a seven-game hitting streak and has six RBI over the past four games. He’ll need to keep it up on Tuesday. Another guy who will need to play well is OF Josh Reddick (.272, 20 HR, 76 RBI). He got the day off on Monday, but did pinch hit in the game and ended the night 1-for-1. He is one of the only powerful bats in this lineup and will need to provide a spark on Tuesday.

Nick Tropeano looked very good in his start against the Astros on Sep. 23, allowing no earned runs in 4.1 innings of action. He should be a bit more stretched out after being a bullpen arm in September and will need to work a bit deeper into this game on Tuesday. The last time he pitched against the Athletics, Tropeano pitched six innings of shutout baseball and struck out five batters. A similar performance on Tuesday would likely mean that the Angels have closed the gap even more on the wild card spot. OF David Murphy (.282, 10 HR, 48 RBI) was the hero for the Angels on Monday night. Murphy came through with a pinch hit single to win the game. He has driven in a run in three straight games for Los Angeles.