:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60491889/usa-today-9234611.0.0.0.jpg)
The last 24 hours have been filled with good things for the Oakland Athletics:
- Rich Hill has basically been the second coming of Clayton Kershaw: see here and here. I haven't been this excited for a pitcher's starts in a while - of course Sonny Gray continues to be our ace, but there's something fascinating happening with Hill that can't be ignored. Part of it is the incredible comeback story, part of it is Hill's effective wildness. But opening the box to look at Schrödinger's Hill every 5 days has been one of the highlights of the season so far for me.
- Hill's performance last night snapped Oakland's losing streak and earned the fifth win of this long East Coast road trip, meaning it's entirely doable that we could walk away with 6 or even 7 wins from this brutal 10-game stretch. No matter what, we'll finish the trip at .500 at the very least.
- SEAN MANAEA WILL BE PITCHING ON FRIDAY. ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!!!!!!!!
Today looks set to be a pitchers' duel, a rematch of 2013 NLDS games 2 and 5. Sonny has been solid so far this season, though he still hasn't really looked 100% in any of his starts. Verlander has struggled somewhat - he has been striking out batters like always, but his hits are up and his ERA reflects that.
First pitch is at 4:10pm PST. Go A's!
