Game Thread #37: A's vs. Nationals

Hey, so I missed yesterday's game due to an unfortunately scheduled flight... anything cool happen?

It's nice to see a massive offensive explosion versus a good pitcher, especially when the offense looked borderline incompetent for the past week or so. Sure, you can qualify that with the whole "pitcher coming off injury and kicking off rust" thing, but it's really, really nice. The A's will look to repeat that performance tonight.

Also, it's Sonny Gray (4-1, 1.91 ERA) day!!!!! My favorite of all days!!!! The reigning AL Pitcher of the Month will take the mound after a good performance versus the Red Sox -- nothing special, but 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K isn't his best work. He still hasn't had a truly bad start since Baltimore last year, and leads the AL in quality starts. Sonny Gray is awesome.

As for the Nationals' 27 year old RHP Tanner Roark (2-1, 4.27 ERA), I have no idea what to make of him. He was a non-prospect in the Rangers system for a while, and after putting up a 1.51 ERA in some 50 IP last year he's the Nationals' fifth starter. His peripherals look good this year -- a 3.87 FIP, 3.66 SIERA, and 7.61 K/9 suggest he's better than his ERA. But he's also had a forgettable minor league career and came out of nowhere to be a decent starter. So, look for him to be very good today. Unless he's bad. Either way, I predicted it.

Here's the lineups:

Derek Norris is out today after a 2-4 day with an RBI, because [reason]. #FreeDerekNorris.