Frankly, much as I hate it when the A's lose, games like Game 1 are why I love baseball. Luke Hudson, who has been pitching well lately, nonetheless comes into the Game 1 start following on the heels of one of the worst outings you could conjure up in your worst nightmares. The Royals, who have been playing better lately, nonetheless have the worst record in the league. The A's have been sizzling hot, and are throwing 13-game winner Joe Blanton.
But there is true parity in baseball, and on any given day, with any two pitchers and any two teams, you never really can quite predict the outcome. So the A's take Game 1 on the chin, 7-1, and will try to avoid a really depressing evening by earning a split in the double-header behind Esteban Loaiza. Loaiza will be opposed by Jorge (pronounced WHORE-hey) De La Rosa.
Rarely does baseball offer the chance for a "do-over," or "mulligan," but this is the make-up of the game Loaiza started and trailed 5-0 after one inning (and one Reggie Sanders grand slam). Down 6-1 in the 3rd inning, the Weather Gods intervened and washed the game away--and now Loaiza, coming off one of his very best starts of the season against Tampa Bay, has another shot at getting it right in KC.
First pitch for Game 2 should be around 5:25pm.
The starting lineups:
Kendall
Swisher
Bradley
Thomas
Payton
Kielty
Scutaro
Ellis
Perez
DeJesus
German
Teahen
Sweeney
Brown
Sanders
Shealy
Buck
Blanco
