The Oakland A’s and Pittsburgh Pirates entered their interleague series with a good combination for playing totals Under — solid starting pitching and struggling bats.

Before this series, the last time the A’s scored more than four runs against teams not named the Baltimore Orioles (who have the worst bullpen ERA in the MLB) and the Texas Rangers (the team with the highest totals in the league) was April 7.

The Pirates entered the series hitting .232 with fewer than 3.5 runs per game. With the A’s sending Chris Bassitt to the mound and the Pirates countering with Trevor Williams, it has the makings of a pitchers’ duel. Williams has the lowest ERA of qualifying starting pitchers after the All-Star break in 2018, and Bassitt has yielded one earned run in his two starts this season.

With both teams ranking in the bottom half of the majors in walks per game drawn and both pitchers giving up a walk every three innings or less, it leaves it up to two light-hitting teams to drive them around, which should prove to be difficult for both.

The play: A’s-Pirates Under 7¹/₂ runs.