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Open Thread: Game 15 - A's at Seattle

The A's with Barry Zito with an 0-3 record and a 7.27 ERA goes against the Mariners and Joel Pineiro with an 0-1 record and a 7.94 ERA.

I talked with Jeff Sullivan from SportsBlogs site LookoutLanding.com and here is what he had to say about the matchup with Pineiro:

Pineiro's one of those guys who gained a reputation as an ace by riding a pitcher-friendly environment and an incredible team defense to a terrific ERA. The fact of the matter is that we're all still waiting for him to put everything together, because while he isn't a true top-of-the-rotation starter yet, he has more than enough talent to get there.

Pineiro, like Zito, can be judged by his curveball - it's a sharp-breaking 12-6 overhand hook that can be devastating when it's working, inducing weak grounders and pop-ups galore while catching a few hitters looking. Where Joel runs into trouble is when he starts getting his curve in the dirt too often, forcing him to rely on a pretty hittable two-pitch arsenal. This is just his second big league start since hurting his elbow last summer, so he could show a lot of inconsistency tonight.

The A's are going with this lineup:

Kotsay
Kendall
Chavez
Durazo
Hatteberg
Ellis
Byrnes
Swisher
Scutaro

Ginter goes to the bench for what I believe is his fourth game in a row. Interesting that what many thought was going to be a middle infield of Ginter and Crosby is rapidly turning into the Ellis/Scutaro show (by injury of course).

The M's send this crew out to face Zito and company:

Suzuki
Winn
Beltre
Sexson
Boone
Ibanez
Bloomquist
Olivo
Valdez