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The A's are finally back at the Coliseum after a grueling 10 game road trip. They return in good shape, having gone 6-4 and regaining sole possession of first place in the AL West. The A's still have the best record in the AL, but it's no doubt buoyed by having the Astros (worst record in the AL) in the same division and playing them so many times.
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On this date the Mexicans notched an emphatic win against Napoleon's French forces. Alas, the French eventually won out, and hung around in Mexico "ruling" for a few years under continuous guerilla attacks. Following the Civil War the U.S. chipped in and helped drive those cheese-eating surrender monkeys back to Europe.
Anyways, thanks to Corona, with an assist from Jose Cuervo, this obscure date at some point became a widespread festival in the U.S. Not that baseball fans need an excuse to knock down a few brews and some nachos, but hopefully the scant denizens of the O dot Co will be in a festive mood for Cinco de Mayo and the return of the A's after a long, successful trip.
Scott Kazmir takes the mound against Chris Young. Yes, the same Chris Young who has missed approximately 17 seasons with injuries. We've seen Young a couple of times already. He seems to be pitching well, but I really don't understand why. I don't think he is overpowering or especially unique. He walks a few hitters in every start.
So far Young has a 3.04 ERA but a 5.45 FIP. And wait, what's this? A BABIP of .211. Hm, either he has been amazing at inducing weak contact or he's got some luck and good fielding behind him. If it's good fielding, that's something the A's are going to have to contend with regardless, but hopefully they will be able to hit the tar out of the ball and blast through the smoke and mirrors.
Kazmir is still a perfect 4-0 in six starts with a 2.11 ERA. With his FIP of 2.43 Kaz's start seems more sustainable. Shaking his reputation of not going deep into games, he's gone eight innings twice already. The A's with their battered and bruised bullpen could use that tonight.
Speaking of bruised, it looks like Yoenis Cespedes is being held out of the lineup after tweaking his hamstring legging out the game-winning infield single yesterday. Josh Reddick, who left the game in pain with a sprained ankle, is also out. The A's don't have a backup outfielder available, so here's hoping Coco, Gentry and Moss can manage to stay in one piece.
The highlight of this series is a doubleheader on Wednesday. Not a lame day-night doubleheader, but a true all-day affair, 30 minutes between games, one ticket gets you in to both. If you have any way of getting out of work, school, etc., that would probably be the day to do it.
Let's Go Oakland!
