The A's and Danny Haren with a 7-9 record and a 3.89 ERA take on the Angels and Ervin Santana with an 11-4 record and a 4.25 ERA.
We all know the stakes for this series. The two teams are separated by a half game right now. Both teams were dead silent on deadline day, showing a strong belief that the team they already have should be good enough to win this season. I'm truly surprised that the Angels didn't give enough up to get Soriano because they're one of the few teams in baseball who actually has the prospects that Bowden probably wanted in return. The Angels also have the deep pockets to keep an acquisition like Soriano to make sure he doesn't bolt and they gave away the farm for nothing.
Any way, the series is huge and Ken Macha sends out the following lineup:
Kendall
Kotsay
Bradley
Thomas
Chavez
Payton
Swisher
Scutaro
Ellis
I want to stay standing and continue applauding Mark Kotsay after his AB against BJ Ryan. That has to be the AB of the season because it set up Bradley's heroics. The A's haven't hit very well against Santana in the past...Chavez, Ellis and Kotsay seem to be the only ones to have had some good success in limited appearances against Usher.
The Angels counter with this lineup:
Figgins
Izturis
Cabrera
Guerrero
Anderson
Rivera
Kendrick
Napoli
Kennedy
The Angels have hit Danny around quite well over the past little while. Kennedy, Izturis, Anderson and Guerrero are all hitting .400 or better against Haren. This would be a great game for Haren to right his ship against the A's heated rivals. Especially with Loaiza pitching the last game of the series.
LET'S GO A'S!!!!!!!
