Last night's game was fun, wasn't it? Good to see them get to Scott Feldman and the bullpen for an easy win after the first five innings went scoreless. As Texas begins to slip back in the wild card race (4.5 behind Boston), their offense has hit the skids. They've been shut out twice in a row and have now gone 19 innings since the last time they scored. Hey, we remember what that's like. The A's have taken five of their last six games against the Rangers, which we like to see.
Edgar Gonzalez draws the start for Oakland and I hear he's pretty good with stick figures. He's winless in 2009 (at least on the baseball field) with one of his two losses coming to Texas, having allowed five earned runs in five innings. He'll be opposed by Brandon McCarthy, 1-1 this year against the A's while giving up eight earned runs in ten innings. It'd appear to be one where the A's bullpen will get some work in but Brett Tomko did toss a shutout last night so you never know. Of course, with the A's season being what it is, the latest news is that he woke up with discomfort in his elbow today (irritated nerve, or the nerve! How irritating!) and will miss his next start.
With the Sacramento River Cats opening their best-of-five series in Memphis for the Pacific Coast League title at the same time the A's start, I'll be watching the parent club with the TV muted while listening to Johnny Doskow call the action for the River Cats, because the truth is I'd rather listen to them right now. Here's a preview of the series and you can listen to the game here by clicking on the microphone at the far right. Brett Wallace won't be the only one facing his old team as Chris Gissell gets the start for the Cats. The last time a team won three straight PCL titles was Albuquerque from 1980-82.
If that's not enough to satisfy your A's-related news, the Midland RockHounds also start a series tonight against NW Arkansas right now as they play for the Texas League championship. Arnold Leon takes the hill. Here's their preview and if you're so inclined you should be able to listen to their game here.
