The A's and Esteban Loaiza with an 0-1 record and a 9.64 ERA take on the Twins and Carlos "I Don't Believe in Walks" Silva with an 0-1 record and a 7.94 ERA.
Look out for Torii Hunter tonight. He absolutely rakes Loaiza with a .452 average with four home runs and nine RBIs.
Hopefully Loaiza is able to get a little velocity back tonight and work things. If not, the A's bullpen should be well-rested.
The A's have lost their first game of the series in all three series so far. New York, Seattle and now, Minnesota. In the other two series they won the rest of the games. Let's hope that trend continues. It's still scary after watching Loaiza in his last start and then factor in the fact that Silva gave up two walks in his last start for the first time since 1920 so he's going to be fired up.
The A's lineup looks like this:
Ellis
Kotsay
Crosby
Chavez
Bradley
Payton
Swisher
Johnson
Melhuse
The Minnesotan is in there after sitting out the opening game. Hopefully he's gotten his mind right and his grind right. Melhuse makes his second start as Macha is sticking with the Loaiza-Melhuse pairing for now.
The Twins counter with this group:
Stewart
Castillo
Mauer
White
Hunter
Morneau
Batista
Kubel
Castro
Why does Justin Ernest George Morneau seem to love A's pitching? Seriously, it seems like the guy ate the A's alive last year. He fulfills his promise against the green and gold and then goes back into his hole against everyone else. He has four home runs against the A's, the most against any non-divisional opponent.
LET'S GO A'S!!!!!!!
