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Open Thread: A's vs. LA - Let's Win One for the (Road) Tripper

Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.

Attempting to fill baseballgirl's shoes tonight, and boy do my feet hurt.

So you may have heard that a few AN members have embarked on an eight-game trip through three cities, which began last Saturday in San Francisco, and wraps up this Sunday night in San Diego. Thus far they have met up with one disappointment after another, at least as far as the action on the field is concerned. Three games, three defeats.

Believe me folks, I feel your pain.

Last night was the worst of them all, and eerily similar to some other game that will haunt me to my dying day. In both contests, the Dodgers led 2-0, fell behind 4-2, and rallied to win 5-4.

But enough about that. Let's get to the here and now. See when a season turns sour, standards are lowered; priorities change. We started out cautiously hoping to compete in a mediocre-at-best division, only to find ourselves counting down games to the .500 mark in June. Now we're merely hoping that Seattle sucks enough to take over the cellar (or are we?)

I am a simpler sort, with a one-track agenda. This game. Tonight I'm rootin' for those reppin' AN to be able to walk out of Dodger Stadium with their heads held high. Lord knows it's been a tumultuous tour to this point. Wearing the face of despair better than any of her cohorts has been pam5981, whose pouty look following Saturday's loss was an instant classic. And then she came on last night to apologize for another punch-in-the-gut defeat. If only our players could hold themselves so accountable, hmm?

Ah yes, the players. For the game two of this three-game set, it's Trevor Cahill taking the mound for the A's (27-36), while Hiroki Kuroda gets the call for the Dodgers (43-22). And here are the lineups they'll be facing:


Lineup

Oakland Athletics @ Los Angeles Dodgers

06/17/09 7:10 PM PDT

Oakland Athletics Los Angeles Dodgers
Adam Kennedy - 2B Juan Pierre - LF
Jack Cust - RF Rafael Furcal - SS
Matt Holliday - LF Orlando Hudson - 2B
Jason Giambi - 1B James Loney - 1B
Kurt Suzuki - C Casey Blake - 3B
Orlando Cabrera - SS Andre Ethier - RF
Jack Hannahan - 3B Matt Kemp - CF
Rajai Davis - CF Russell Martin - C
Trevor Cahill - P Hiroki Kuroda - P