The A's come home after cooling off one of the hottest teams in baseball by splitting the series with the White Sox. Yeah, it seems bad because the team lost the last two, but it's been impressive how this team is able to constantly seem to push beyond my expectations.
Still the A's have a lot to prove over the next few games before the All Star break. They sit six games back and if they fall a little further back, then the A's could be selling their major assets before the July 31st trading deadline.
Tonight the A's send Dana Eveland to the mound with his 6-5 record and 3.42 ERA. He faces Jarrod Washburn with a 4-7 record and a 5.08 ERA. But don't be fooled. Washburn has pitched really well in June and made a good start in July. He was 1-1 in June with a 2.93 ERA. And the A's seem especially perplexed by left-handed starters since they lost Frank Thomas and Mike Sweeney to injury. They just don't seem to match up well. Mark Ellis is one to watch for tonight as he has a career .351 batting average and .943 OPS against Washburn.
The M's have limited ABs against Eveland but Jose Lopez went 3 for 3 against Eveland with double. Eveland was 2-1 in June with a 2.64 ERA so it's possible that he's getting better. Let's hope that continues tonight.
The A's lineup is as follows:
Ellis
Ryan Sweeney
Cust
Emil Brown
Suzuki
Gonzalez
Bankston
Hannahan
Petit
OK so outside of Mark Ellis and Jack Cust, this lineup has the look that just screams Sacramento River Cats.
The Mariners go with this lineup:
Suzuki
Lopez
Ibanez
Beltre
Sexson
Johjima
Clement
Bloomquist
Betancourt
LET'S GO A'S!!!!!!!
