Game Thread #124: Oakland A's vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Happy Sonny day!

Today is also the AN tailgate! Might make the comments a little quiet, but still.

The matchup is Sonny Gray (12-5, 2.04) vs. Erasmo Ramirez (10-4, 3.57). Obviously, I don't need to preview Sonny too much – he's really, really good. He is coming off a relatively subpar start, however. His last time out vs. Baltimore, he only went 5.3 innings and allowed 4 runs (although only one of those was earned). Keep an eye on his fastball velocity: last time out, he averaged 91.8 MPH on the pitch (a season low).

Erasmo Ramirez is, you know, a guy. He's a good back-rotation pitcher having a rebound season after a dreadful 2014 with the Mariners (5.26 ERA, -0.6 fWAR). He's been much better this season, which can be attributed to a massive decline in both his walk rates and home run rates. The 25 year old has upside, and might finally be pitching to his potential.

Here are the lineups, featuring no Danny Valencia.

Baseball!