The A's and former Cy Young candidate Dan Haren with a 14-7 record and a 3.11 ERA take on the Mariners and Miguel Batista with a 13-11 record and a 4.67 ERA.
The A's are 5-2 over the last seven games, but unfortunately they have been eliminated from playoff contention earlier than any time since 1998. It's really a testament to how successful this franchise has been for years. That's nearly a 10-year run of being in contention up until game 156. And I do believe that the biggest reason that it happened so early this year was because of injuries. What more as a fan can you ask for? OK, yeah, you can ask for a World Series win, but if not for a Jeremy Giambi non-slide or a Billy Koch meatball or Byrnes touching home, the A's very well could've had one if not two. Sorry to bring up painful memories, but I do think the A's would've been much closer to the playoffs this year had they not continued to set an Oakland record for most players used.
Jerry Blevins appearance yesterday for the A's meant that he became the 54th player the A's have used this year. They are only two away from tying the all-time Athletics record of 56 players in 1915. Seriously, this kind of thing hasn't happened for 92 years. Wow. Come on, A's, set the record (and with possible suspensions coming for Swisher and Hannahan, it very well seems inevitable).
The A's lineup tonight looks like this:
Stewart
Barton
Swisher
Cust
Ellis
Johnson
Suzuki
Hannahan
Murphy
The Mariners lineup looks like this:
Suzuki
Beltre
Ibanez
Guillen
Broussard
Vidro
Johjima
Lopez
Betancourt
I really would've preferred that the Mariners win the division over the Angels, but such is life. Ultimately, it will probably be a postseason that I ignore for the first time in quite a few years. There really isn't much interesting there for me outside of maybe rooting for the Padres if they make it. But that's about it.
LET'S GO A'S!!!!!!!
