Game Thread #152: Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels

Good afternoon, and welcome to the penultimate Wednesday of the regular season, as the A's steam towards the playoffs; magic number at just 6. Most of the Division leaders are close to clinching a playoff berth, and the A's are no exception, but they still have to actually, you know, do it. Today's game will feature A.J. Griffin, as he will try to win the series for the A's, and bring the magic number to 5.

I'm sure you all saw yesterday's comments about the size of the crowds this week. I think we all have many, many comments of our own on this topic, but for right now, I'm going to focus solely on the game today. We're expecting great numbers for any playoff games that the A's play in Oakland, so there's that, and we are the proud owners of a shiny, awesome team, one that might just pull off the unexpected and take the American League crown away from the Rangers and the Angels for the second straight year. That's what today is about; win #90.

The usual suspects are in the lineup; Crisp, Donaldson, Lowrie and Cespedes (now playing with tendinitis, but he'll live), mixed in with the A's deep platoons; Norris, Young, Callaspo and Reddick are also in the lineup, as well as the almost-goat of last night's game, Daric Barton, who made Josh Donaldson a hero, yet again. Let's hope for something equally magic in today's game. Or a rout; I do not care either way as long as the A's join the 90-wins and above club.

Here are your lineups:

LET'S GO OAK-LAND!