Game Thread #46: A's at Mariners

The A's got off to a solid start on their seven-game home stand by sweeping the Texas Rangers in a three-game series, which was highlighted by a three-homer night for Khris Davis -- who somehow magically hit a game-winning grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth last Tuesday, and became the first player since Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto capped a three-homer game with a walk-off grand salami against the Washington Nationals on May 13, 2012.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't watched this video a billion trillion times, but watching this sure eases the pain of the Bronx Bombers feasting on the A's pitching staff while Sonny Gray and Josh Reddick hit the 15-day disabled list... and we begin to question whether or not the A's chances of contending in 2016 is possible, or nothing more than a mirage.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope the green and gold can turn things around! But it will be a tough task going up against a scorching Mariners squad who possess a 13-6 record in their last 19 games, with a .272 team batting average, along with 27 round trippers -- while averaging 5.3 runs per contest.

If anyone can halt Oakland's four-game skid, I'm glad Rich Hill is taking the mound for the A's tonight; as I'm sure everyone else is (especially prior to the season). Instead of focusing on the prior series, lets focus on tonight and appreciate the fact that Taijuan Walker has an 0-1 record with a 6.45 ERA in five career games against the Athletics.

Without further ado, here are tonight's starting lineups:

Now, lets PLAY BALL!!!!!!