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In the ongoing quest to be the least awful of the three wild card teams fighting for two spots, Oakland tries to win the series against Philadelphia. Scott Kazmir gets the call against A.J. Burnett, conveniently working with Geovany Soto and not Derek Norris, with whom Kazmir appeared to have some tension throughout his last start.
Whether or not pitchers are having "issues" with Norris' game calling remains an ongoing story -- or non-story, since pitchers, catchers, managers and coaches are loathe to air dirty laundry. What is clear is how much pain Norris is playing through, so a day off is probably a good thing no matter what the motivator.
The A's start the day with one more win than Seattle or Kansas City and 8 games left to play. The Royals will complete their suspended game against Cleveland (4-2 Indians in the middle of the 10th inning) tomorrow.
On paper, today's lineup doesn't look half bad. Unfortunately, on the actual baseball field is where the A's have had more trouble scoring than a nymphomaniac in a brothel. Well, I should probably stop before I say something inappropriate.
