The A's and Barry Zito with a 16-9 record and a 3.89 ERA take on the Angels and Slingblade with a 12-11 record and a 3.69 ERA.
Nico made a good point last week that the A's could at least use the series against Anaheim to see what a playoff series would be like. The A's are facing that exact situation tonight because they are taking on the staff with the third best ERA in the AL. If anything should help get the A's ready for the pitching they're going to face in the postseason, the Angels should be it.
The A's lineup looks a little less Sacramento tonight (though not much):
Bocachica
Ellis
Kotsay
Bradley
Melhuse
Kielty
Johnson
Jimenez
Perez
I'm glad Macha say Thomas and Chavez again tonight and hopefully they see just limited action the rest of the weekend.
I'm also hoping that Zito doesn't stay past 80 or 90 pitches. Give him plenty of rest...then again, Z is such a creature of habit maybe it makes more sense to just keep him in his normal habit.
The Angels send out this lineup:
Figgins
Willits
Guerrero
Rivera
Quinlan
Kendrick
Napoli
Morales
Aybar
It's a good challenge for Zito considering how much Robbbbbbbb Quinlan owns him. I'm really happy this series means absolutely NOTHING.
Let's go A's!!! (we'll save the caps for the playoffs)
By the way, there's something pretty interesting going on in Yankee Stadium right now.
