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Why, hello there, Dan Straily! My, how you have been missed! Straily is making the start tonight in place of the hobbled Brett Anderson, and is a welcome relief to the truly horrific starting pitching as of late. I hope he hasn't been around long enough for our starters to rub off on him. Straily is making his second start of the season as the A's look to win an elusive two games in a row after yesterday's come-from-behind barn burner.
If there was ever a game to win, it was yesterday's. Down 5-0 in the sixth, with seemingly all hope gone (and why would the A's come back? They had shown very little signs of life in the last ten games), and despite the bullpen mess; clearly taking lessons from the starters (Not you, Jerry), the A's managed to put more offense on the board than the Orioles, scoring 9 runs in the last four innings to come away with the triumphant win.
The A's hope to carry that momentum into tonight's contest as their lineup will face off against the Angels' Tommy Hanson. I cannot stress the importance of winning this series enough for the A's, who need to close the distance between themselves and the Texas Rangers, and put more distance between themselves and the Angels.
An interesting note: I always thought this statistic was cherry-picked, but really; I'm starting to believe it:
Since Cespedes became a member of the A's, the team is 90-48 when he plays and 17-32 when he doesn't.
Here's hoping for some more wins!
LET'S GO OAK-LAND!
