The A's and Danny Haren with a 6-7 record and a 3.89 ERA take on the Mariners and Gil "The Accountant" Meche (his name sounds like an accountant to me - my accountant Gil Meche told me that I better claim "0" on my taxes in order to avoid underpaying) with an 8-4 record and a 4.79 ERA.
The A's look for the sweep and seven wins in a row. Haren, like Blanton, has been working deep into games. He has won five of his last six starts (the other was a no decision) and gone 9.0, 7.0, 6.2, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 innings in those starts.
The A's lineup looks like this:
Kotsay
Ellis
Chavez
Crosby
Hatteberg
Kielty
Johnson
Swisher
Melhuse
Kendall gets a day off, Ellis and Melhuse get a rare day on and Hatteberg appears to have gotten over the flu.
The Mariners counter with this lineup:
Suzuki
Winn
Beltre
Sexson
Ibanez
Boone
Reed
Morse
Borders
It'd be beautiful to sweep this and go into the White Sox series. The AN Billy Beane midseason interview, Part II will be posted after the game.
LET'S GO OAK-LAND!!!!!!!
