Fresh off of taping six new episodes of "I Love Lucy," Ricky Romero gets the start against the A's today and if he doesn't pitch effectively, well then...he's got some 'splaining to do! {cue laugh track} Romero is the third of five consecutive left-handed starters the A's will see on the road trip. He is also Kurt Suzuki's former battery-mate from their Cal State Fullerton days, when Romero was the team's #2 starter behind...Jason Windsor.
Oakland ace A's #1 starter Proven veteran Lefty Dallas Braden makes his third start of the season, having turned in 6 solid innings in each of his first two efforts.
Don't look now but the A's are currently winning the Triple Crown of batting futility: At .235/.315/.313, Oakland is last in the American League in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging! For good measure, at 3 for 8 the A's also have the league's worst base-stealing percentage. This is all actually good news, in that if one presumes the A's will not finish the season with a collective OPS of .628 then chances are the best is yet to come for a team that has still held its own over the first 11 games.
