Game Thread #120: Athletics at Giants

As September looms closer and the pennant chases ramp up, the A’s have a set of important matchups in the bay. Today marks the start of the yearly Bay Bridge Series between the A’s and Giants, with this two game set in San Francisco. Last year the Athletics took the series 4-2, and look to hold on to The Bridge trophy this year.

Starting for the Giants today is Madison Bumgarner. While not having as strong of a year as he was known for during the Giants’ dominant years, Bum has had flashes of brilliance, including his last start which was 7 innings of one-hit baseball against the Phillies. This year has also held some much poorer appearances, like 5 innings of 5 run ball against the struggling Rockies 10 days ago. Stronger when playing at Oracle Park this season, Bumgarner is definitely the Giants’ best chance against the A’s this year.

For the Athletics, there is one player to pay attention to in the batter’s box tonight above anyone else. Slashing .667/.667/.667 with a 1.33 OPS, Brett Anderson has been a delight when pitching in interleague games. Anderson was instrumental in last week’s 11 run rout of the Cubs, keeping the early inning rallies moving with his batting prowess. Hopefully he will not only inflate his batting stats tonight, but also deliver another quality start on the mound.

Lineups

Lineup notes:

• Another NL matchup, another game without Khris Davis in the lineup, as the struggling slugger is too much of a defensive liability in the wasteland that is Oracle Park’s left field.
• Joining KD on the bench are Chris Herrmann, Nick Martini, and Jurickson Profar, all potential candidates for late game substitutions.

Go A’s!