The A's and Ballsy Brad Halsey with a 1-2 record and a 3.15 ERA take on the Rangers and Kevin Millwood with a 5-3 record and a 4.26 ERA.
Heh, heh, I said "wood". Sorry, we interrupt this Beavis and Butthead moment to bring you the battle for first place in the AL West. The A's win tonight and they are tied for the first while being a game under .500. Is this division that bad or is it just a matter of parity?
Any way, this is the A's lineup tonight:
Ellis
Kotsay
Crosby
Chavez
Thomas
Swisher
Melhuse
Kielty
Johnson
At this point, I've got to think that Macha is just punishing Crosby by having him hit third. Or at least trying to embarrass him. I mean Crosby has had three career ABs against Millwood and doesn't have a hit. Ellis, Kotsay, Thomas, Chavez and Swisher all sport an OBP over .350 against Millwood. But Millwood has only given up two earned runs over 12 innings against the Athletics so far this season. So this could be a struggle tonight despite the fact that it's in Texas.
The first place Rangers send out this lineup:
Matthews
Young
Teixeira
Blalock
Nevin
Mench
DeRosa
Barajas
Kinsler
The Rangers have a total of 24 ABs against Halsey, so hopefully Brad has the element of surprise on his side.
LET'S GO A'S!!!!!!!
