The A's and Danny Haren with a 1-3 record and a 5.27 ERA take on the new look Toronto Blue Jays and Josh Towers with an 0-6 record and a 10.59 ERA.
Even though it seems like Josh Towers pitched well against the A's in his career (or maybe that's just in my mind), he actually is 5-3 with a 5.04 ERA against the A's and went 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA last year. Keep your eye on Eric Chavez as he is 11-21 (.524) with two doubles and three home runs. Mark Ellis is probably batting so low in the order because he is 0-6 in his career against Towers.
The A's lineup is as follows:
Kotsay
Swisher
Crosby
Chavez
Thomas
Johnson
Payton
Melhuse
Ellis
Before you go crazy yelling about Crosby hitting third, he is hitting .500 against Towers in his young career. Dan Johnson is also good protection for Big Hurt, going 3-4 against Towers in his one game against him. Macha loves matchups if nothing more.
The revamped and scary Jays lineup (if you ever have a chance to watch Glaus during batting practice, do it - the guy launches absolute bombs) looks like this:
Johnson
Catalanotto
Wells
Glaus
Overbay
Hillenbrand
Zaun
Adams
Hill
The Jays are for real. Hopefully the A's offense can get to Towers early and often.
LET'S GO OAK-LAND!!!!!!!
