Open Thread: Game 4 - Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners

Good evening, everybody! This is my debut here on Athletics Nation and I'm very thankful for receiving this opportunity. I'm going to do the best I can, but don't worry, I know it's not as easy as just saying, "Giants suck!" to be respected here.

First things first, let's just completely forget yesterday's game (minus Yoenis Cespedes' mammoth home run).

While every other AL West team won yesterday, the A's continued their Opening Day woes. The A's haven't really been the real A's on Opening Day (or have they?) -- they've now lost their 8th consecutive Opening Day game. Fortunately, the A's have won 5 of the last 7 games following Opening Day, so we should know what to expect for the 2012 season. If it makes you feel any better, the Giants and their precious Tim Lincecum lost to the Diamondbacks.

Bartolo Colon will take the mound to face Felix Hernandez in the final game of this 4 game series. Colon is looking to repeat his previous outing where he dominated the Mariners in Tokyo, Japan, throwing 8 strong innings of one-run ball with 3 hits and a walk. Hernandez, who the A's will see a lot of this season, had a similar line in his previous outing with a lone earned run on 5 hits and no walks over 8 innings. Look forward to a good match up and hopefully a big crowd to support our A's!

In other news, Gio Gonzalez was pulled from his start with the Nationals. He was up against the Cubs and in 3.2 innings, gave up 4 earned runs on 7 hits and of course, 3 walks, but at least he had 6 strikeouts.

Here are the lineups:

Athletics

Mariners