The A's (22-30) get back to playing in front of familiar faces after a 4-4 trip through Texas and Chicago, as they send Dallas Braden (4-5, 3.63) to the mound tonight against the Baltimore Orioles (24-30). Braden has found the Orioles to his liking; three of his ten career wins have come against them, and his ERA is a shiny 1.33 in four starts.
In between smothering teammates with shaving cream pies, and perfecting his tape figures on outfield walls, the southpaw has found some time to throw a pretty good game. In his last outing, he allowed two runs on five hits in six innings, while striking out six.
Ultimately Braden had more trouble with a medical kit than he did the Rangers. Nursing a 4-0 lead, he came out in the seventh with a cut on his left thumb (the two runners that reached against him came around to score), in a game the A's eventually won, 5-4.
Starting for Baltimore is Jeremy Guthrie (4-4, 4.86), who struck out ten Tigers in his last start on May 30, and- like Braden- has gone at least six innings in three consecutive starts.
While it would be wildly premature to say the A's are clicking on all cylinders, they have combined power with pitching quite nicely of late. Oakland has homered in a season-high six straight games, and its two shutouts on the year have come this week.
Overall the A's have won four of five. The Orioles have gone the opposite route, with their lone win a 1-0 affair at Seattle on Monday.
And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The starting lineups:
Here's shaving cream in your eye!
(courtesy of Yahoo! Sports)
