The A's and Kirk "Best Fifth Starter in the Majors" Saarloos with a 10-7 record and a 3.90 ERA take on the Texas Rangers and Juan Domínguez with a 3-5 record and a 3.90 ERA, in the final game of the three game series, which has both teams tied at one apiece thus far.
And for the first time in quite a while, I bring you tidings of great joy.
The Disneyland Angels have already lost.
For Domínguez, this will be his 9th start overall, after being recalled from Triple-A Omaha by the Rangers in Mid-August. In his eight starts thus far, Domínguez has a 3-3 record, and has reduced his ERA by nearly two full runs following a dozen mediocre relief appearances. His most recent start was Tuesday against the same Angels, where he took the loss, despite allowing only two runs through seven full, one of which was unearned.
In order for the A's to win and gain ground on the Angels, they will need to recall what they did the last time they faced Domínguez, when they put up 8 runs in 3 1/3 innings, including home runs by Ellis, Kotsay and Johnson, September 9th in Arlington.
For the visiting Rangers, Buck Showalter offers this lineup:
Mathews
Young
Teixeira
Blalock
Soriano
Gonzalez
DeRosa
Barajas
Botts
Your 2005 Oakland A's offer up their retort:
Ellis
Kendall
Kotsay
Chavez
Crosby
Hatteberg
Payton
Johnson
Swisher
The game is nationally televised on ESPN 2, so we can look forward to Joe Morgan providing his "insight".
