Open Thread: Game 42 - A's vs. Giants

First of all, whenever you're down and things just aren't going your way, just remember to be thankful that you're not either of the following two people:

1. The guy in this article:
2. The person who came up with a slogan for a radio station that sounds like, "KYCY: Open Sores Radio!"

Anyway, I prepare us for the possibility of being down, because sometimes the pitching matchup favors you and sometimes it doesn't--and today's game, on paper, provides the A's biggest challenge of the series. Fill-in lefty Brad Halsey gets the call against mighty-righty Jason Schmidt. Schmidt not only wears the title of staff ace, but he is also throwing the ball particularly well right now, with a 3-0 record, a 1.41 ERA, and at least 7 IP/start, to show for his past 4 efforts.

You may be wondering whether or not Halsey has an out-pitch to get Barry Bonds. The answer is: they have actually never faced each other. However, we do have some data on Pedro Feliz, and it is not happy-data: Feliz comes in 5/9 (with one HR) against the Ballsy one.

Today's "fun fact": Did you know that Brad Halsey's birthday is on Valentine's Day? Every year, too.

The starting lineups:

Winn
Visquel
Feliz
Bonds
Durham
Finley
Matheny
Sweeney
Ellison

Ellis
Swisher
Kotsay
Chavez
Thomas
Crosby
Payton
Kendall
Johnson