Game Thread #66: A's vs. Yankees

The future is here.

Well, at least one corner of the infield is.

Tonight Matt Chapman will finally grace us with his presence, as the A's front office went into savage mode today and DFA'd Trevor Plouffe on his birthday and fired Curt Young out of nowhere. Maybe they thought the Warriors' parade would conveniently distract the media, which probably hasn't been totally untrue.

Sonny Gray will take the mound for the A's. The improving trajectory of his past three starts is promising, allowing 7, 3, then 5 runs (2 earned). In that last start on June 10th, he managed to strike out 10 batters in 6 innings and only walked one. While rooting for a Sonny resurgence at this point can seem a bit bittersweet (as in, the better he is the more likely he gets traded), I personally want to see him do well, and we do want maximum return if he does go.

Jordan Montgomery will start for the dominant Yankees. He's 4-4 on the season with a 3.55 ERA, and has only given up four earned runs over his last 20 innings.

While it's a bummer that Plouffe didn't work out for the A's, get excited for Matt Chapman. Read all about him here: https://www.athleticsnation.com/2017/6/14/15805368/matt-chapman-will-be-called-up-to-oakland-as-per-report

Fun Things to Think About When Playing a 38-25 Team:

1. Sonny Gray told Buster Olney on his Baseball Tonight podcast earlier this week that he played Troy Bolton in his high school's production of High School Musical.
2. The Yankees' CC Sabathia (currently on the DL) was filming a Food Network pilot at Homeroom in Oakland earlier today. We can only imagine what that might turn into (if anyone knows, speak up!).
3. The conversations happening on the parade float that included Ricky Henderson and Barry Bonds:

All in the same #WarriorsParade float: Barry Bonds, Ricky Henderson, Too $hort, Dance Cam Mom, Toaster Guy ☠️☠️ #TeamTooLit #DubNation pic.twitter.com/uNf2GuB0yZ

— Nate Coombs (@n8coombs) June 15, 2017

First pitch is at 7:05.