The A's and Rich Harden who had a 10-5 record with a 2.53 ERA in 2005 take on the Yankees and Mike Mussina who had a 13-8 record with a 4.41 ERA.
Excuse me while I slip into my super spectacular, super secret Captain Obvious tights and let you know, the A's are looking for a better pitching performance from King Richard tonight than they got from Barry Zito last night. The Yankees lineup is frightening, but Harden is the kind of pitcher who won't nibble around the edges if he has his control. If he doesn't he can be a little wild.
The no-so-good news is that Harden is 1-2 with a 5.55 ERA against the Yankees over his career, including 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA last year. I imagine this probably has to do with how amped Harden gets for some of his starts. Hopefully he's got that under control and is ready to show the world just how good Harden really is.
Mussina, on the other hand, dominated the A's in 2005. He went 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA and only gave up two runs in 16.0 innings pitched. The last game against the A's in May of last year he had nine strikeouts to only one walk.
Ugh.
Without further ado, here is the A's starting lineup tonight:
Ellis
Kotsay
Chavez
Thomas
Johnson
Bradley
Kendall
Swisher
Scutaro
I still would like to see Kendall hitting ninth, but that's just me. If he does anything consistently in his career, that's get on base and that can be a valuable asset for a nine hitter.
Here's the Yankees lineup, which will likely be New York's lineup for most of the season, barring injury:
Damon
Jeter
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Giambi
Matsui
Posada
Williams
Cano
LET'S GO A'S!!!!!!!
