Game Thread #23: A's at Tigers

The 2016 Athletics are 11-11 on the season and 5-4 on this early season East Coast trek. They currently stand a game out in the AL West, tied for 3rd in a very tight early season race for the division crown.

By this afternoon, the A's being above .500 on the season and for the road trip depends in large part on the right arm of Chris Bassitt AKA "The Hound". Bassitt leads the A's in this morning's match up, as he takes the hill to spin the hard ball. Bassitt is 0-1 in four outings this young season, with a 4.44 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 5.12 FIP. With wunderkind Sean Manaea joining the rotation Friday in Oakland (tix here), and Henderson Alvarez continuing a rehab assignment in Stockton this weekend, Bassitt may also be in a position where he is pitching for both an Athletics win and his spot in the Athletics rotation.

Opposing the Athletics, the Tigers send the veteran right hander Anibal Sanchez to the bump. Sanchez is 2-2 in his four starts, with an ERA of 7.00, WHIP of 1.89 and FIP of 5.78. The A's look to put up some crooked numbers and start turning their high percentage of 1 run jacks into more that take place with ducks on the pond.

The lineups for both teams are below:

The Athletics are a very slight underdog in the game at +110. Getaway day in Detroit, time for some morning Athletics baseball! Be sure to join the discussion in the comments thread, GO A'S!