Lord, we thank you for Rich Harden's presence with us tonight, for without him, we would not have met Brandon Allen, blessed creator of all things. Amen.
Harden (2-1, 4.30 ERA) is having a nice year. It's not quite as good as his amazing years in Oakland way back when, but it's definitely an improvement over his poor years in Chicago and Texas. The last of those caused the Rangers to release him entirely. Unfortunately, tonight he faces reigning AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez (9-9, 3.38). Hernandez is having a great year (what else is new?), but just like last year, his win-loss record fails to measure up. Hopefully the A's can capitalize on Seattle's poor offense and grab a win.
In offensive news, Pennington is reportedly feeling much better, but he's still sitting out tonight with, no seriously, Bell's Palsy. Chalk up another injury to the "what the hell is THAT? oh GOD." journal. Other than that, the lineup is essentially the standard July lineup that we've seen so far.
First pitch is at 7:10 PM.
