As the A's try to even up the series with the Red Hot Philly Peppers, I am actually writing you from the Santa Rita jail. California has a strict "3 strikes" law, and in yesterday's Open Thread I corrected a technical mistake with another mistake, then corrected that mistake with yet another mistake. I am now sharing a cell with the two people Jason Kendall has caught stealing since the beginning of May. In the cells on either side of me are the two crooked numbers that assaulted the A's on Thursday and Friday. The worst thing about being in jail, by the way, is not the incarceration itself. There's this screeching sound that's being piped in somewhere and it's driving us all crazy. We've narrowed it down to three possible sources: It's either a cat being strangled, someone playing the bagpipes, or Tim McCarver speaking.
Anyway, today's matchup, weather permitting--he said, referring to a home game in the middle of June--features Los Kirk (the 5-inning wonder) against Cory Lidle (the August 2002 wonder). Speaking of the bullpen--and we will be, as the official over/under on starting pitcher innings is 9 2/3--the last time Kiko Calero looked as hitable as he did last night, he was just passing through on his way to the DL. Cross your fingers on that one.
The starting lineups go something like this:
Rollins
Lofton
Abreu
Burrell
Thome
Utley
Michaels
Lieberthal
Martinez
Kendall
Kotsay
Crosby
Chavez
Hatteberg (DH)
Byrnes
Johnson
Kielty
Scutaro
