Open Thread: Game 3 - Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners (1)

Well, on the bright side, tonight's game can't be worse than last night's. Not only did the A's exhibit sloppy pitching, but their hitting the first two nights has been absolutely atrocious. Aside from one well-hit ball by Yoenis Cespedes that left the yard, the A's have been devoid of any other offense. Seriously. Not even a rally. Heck, I was cheering for a 3-2 count last night.

This is not what we've waited six months to watch. The A's team of last summer and fall, that stormed the field in the late innings, taking names and being generally unbeatable has been replaced with a pale imitation of baseball, if you can even call it that. The A's haven't show up in 18 innings, and this should probably change tonight, if they would like to keep the bandwagon rolling. But as someone said earlier; had these two games happened in the middle of May or June, we probably wouldn't even remember. I'm positive they had longer stretches of worse baseball, but everything is magnified with such a small sample size.

Tommy Milone will take the mound for the A's in tonight's contest, looking to be the A's first winner. The A's will face their old foe in Joe Saunders, who is part of a retooled Seattle team, looking to compete with the rest of the AL West.

The good news? Tonight's lineup is not Monday or Tuesday's lineup, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say, Thank Goodness". Not only do we get to see Chris Young, but Scott Sizemore, Derek Norris and Nate Freiman will be playing as well.

Here are the lineups for the Seattle Mariners and your Defending AL West Champion Oakland Athletics:

Now play like it!

LET'S GO OAK-LAND!