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Game Thread #71: A's vs. Brewers

Time for Daniel Mengden's first major league W.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Ahoy-hoy everybody! It's a beautiful day in Oakland and a welcome respite from the brutally hot days of recent past and near future. With the solstice just passed, summer is in full swing as is Daniel Mengden's glorious mustache. Let's dive into today's preview, shall we?

The Brewers are a strange franchise in so many ways. They play a summer sport on the frigid plains of Wisconsin and are the only team in American sports that openly embraces "sin" (not that I'm against imbibing alcohol, but it stands in stark contrast to baseball's puritanical-in-name-but-not-in-practice roots). So it's fitting that they're playing the A's, another collection of misfits and white elephants who reside in a concrete cathedral below sea level.

Anyway, as for today's match-up: The Brew Crew are sending the awesomely-named Junior Guerra to the mound. Junior Guerra, AKA Little War, has put up little WAR this year. He has a 3.81 ERA with acceptable but not flashy WHIP and K/9 numbers. The dude has been solidly average, so get ready for him to throw a no-hitter.

Pitching for Oakland is rookie Daniel Mengden. Mengden shot up through the minor leagues this year after completely dominating both AA and AAA, and has continued to look solid in both of his starts at the major league level. Mengden has been a tough-luck loser in both of his MLB games, giving up few runs but getting even less run support, but he has been a pleasure to watch and today will hopefully be the day he can lock down that first major league win.

Today's Lineups

MILWAUKEE BREWERS OAKLAND A'S
Aaron Hill - 3B Billy Burns - CF
Scooter Gennett - 2B Coco Crisp - LF
Ryan Braun - LF Jed Lowrie - 2B
Jonathan Lucroy - DH Danny Valencia - 3B
Chris Carter - 1B Khris Davis - DH
Kirk Nieuwenhuis - CF Yonder Alonso - 1B
Martin Maldonado - C Marcus Semien - SS
Ramon Flores - RF Max Muncy - RF
Yadiel Rivera - SS Josh Phegley - C
Junior Guerra - RHP Daniel Mengden - RHP

Baseball commences at 12:35pm PT. Unfortunately, the only way to watch this one is via MLB Network, so I'll be firing up the radio. Go A's!