Oakland has six games left before the All-Star Break and I feel the A’s need to win five of them to gain sufficient momentum going into the ASB. The good news is, I think the A’s can do it. (Don’t ask me why. Maybe it’s my determination to alternate excessive optimism and excessive pessimism until people get so confused that they give up and declare me a genius. Kind of like when Jackson Pollack clumsily tripped over a bunch of his paint cans, knocked them all over his canvas, and declared, “Oh yeah, that was totally on purpose,” and everyone quickly went, “Um, right…Genius!”)
Certainly, tonight offers a favorable matchup for the A’s on paper, with the red-hot Joe Blanton squaring (rounding?) off against Jesse “Hi, I have a 6.62 ERA, a 1.70 WHIP, 7 BBs and 3 Ks” Listch. This poor guy is doomed, because one way or the other he has to be either a bastard or a son-of-a-Litsch.
Anyhoo, Shane Komine is back, Ron Flores is in AAA, Scutaro is alive and well (well, alive), and the rest of the season begins today. Play ball! The starting lineups:
Wells – CF
Zaun – C
Rios – RF
Glaus – 3B
Beeeeeg Hurt – DH
Stairs – 1B
Hill – 2B
Lind – LF
McDonald – SS
Stewart – LF
Kotsay – CF
Swisher – RF
Cust – DH
Chavez – 3B
Johnson – 1B
Ellis – 2B
Crosby – SS
Kendall – C
