:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60491291/453416720.0.0.0.jpg)
Yes! A's baseball!
The A's get to face the price of heading on the road to face baseball's hottest team, the Kansas City Royals. The Royals have won seven straight and now sit just 0.5 games back from the Detroit Tigers.
Rookie right hander Yordano Ventura is starting for the Royals against Sonny Gray. Ventura is a 23 year old hailing from the Dominican Republic. He was always a promising prospect, getting into two futures games and running his fastball upwards of 100 mph. So far he has turned in a very solid rookie campaign, going 9-8 with a 3.47 ERA over 127 innings and averaging almost a strikeout per inning.
Sonny Gray is looking to bounce back from his worst start of the year, a weird one against the Rays where he repeatedly missed locations and was let down spectacularly by his defense.
The "Mad Scientist" Melvin has another wild and wacky lineup, hitting Jaso at 8th (perhaps a nod to his recent slump) and Reddick in the 2-spot. Let's see if it pays off.
Also worth noting, A's killer Josh Willingham just got traded to the Royals, so he can continue pulverizing A's pitching. Not often a player gets 8 straight games against the same opponent. He's not in the lineup tonight but don't worry, he'll have a few more games to terrorize us. The Twins got a solid return for a couple months of a hitter that isn't having a great season: Jason Adam, a AAA pitcher and the Royals #9 prospect.
Here are your lineups. Let's Go Oakland!
P.S. Rest in peace, Robin Williams.
