Open Thread - Game 3 - A's Look to Get off the Schneid vs. Seattle

With just one week to go before the season opener, the A's send...oh, wait.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Not that we'll get many sympathy cards from the Seattle Mariners. They are all-too-familiar with unfulfilled expectations (see, 2010).

Hey, here's something to ponder (or not), courtesy of MercuryNews.com:

The following information is for entertainment purposes only: Last year, A's starter Gio Gonzalez was 2-1 in April, 7-1 in day games, 8-3 at home and 3-0 against the Mariners.

I went ahead and reached into my own bag of meaningless tidbits to bring you this:

Oakland is 5-5 lifetime on April 3, 4-4 at home, and 1-1 on the road. The only team they have played more than once on this date happens to be today's opponent. The A's and Mariners have met four times previously on April 3, twice in Oakland (they split), and twice in Seattle (ditto).

Well, now that we got that out of the way, isn't it wonderful how two-game suckfests are magnified a trillion times when they occur at the dawn of a new season? I don't like it any more than you do, but if this was June 3, we'd more than likely chalk it up to a bad weekend. Unless of course the A's were already 10 games out...but they're not, so no need to raid the medicine cabinet.

Yet.

Today the A's send Gio Gonzalez to steer the ship in the win direction. Seattle counters with Doug Fister. Strangely enough, the last regular season start for both pitchers was opposite each other.

The A's won that one, 8-1.

Take a swig of your favorite beverage whenever:

* Ray Fosse inadvertently makes inappropriate use of Seattle's starter's name.

* Our third baseman bobbles a grounder.

* Craig Bleslow warms up in the pen.

Lineup widget not working at the moment. Enjoy the game!