Game Thread #39: A’s vs. Twins

The Oakland A’s continue their series against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at the Coliseum. Last night the Twins won the first game.

Tonight the A’s are doing something we haven’t seen all year: Repeating the same lineup. They have the same nine hitters, arranged in the same order, all playing the same positions, for the first time this season. They’d never repeated a lineup on consecutive days, and as near as I can tell they’d used 38 distinct orders in their first 38 games.

Oakland is averaging 2.4 runs per contest over their past two dozen games, and last night this exact group mustered just one run on four hits, but let’s see what they can do in an encore against Minnesota starter Dylan Bundy. The A’s most productive hitter, infielder Sheldon Neuse, is out for the third straight game due to groin tightness.

A’s lineup (home)

1. 2B Tony Kemp (L)
2. DH Jed Lowrie (S)
3. RF Ramon Laureano (R)
4. 1B Seth Brown (L)
5. C Sean Murphy (R)
6. SS Elvis Andrus (R)
7. LF Luis Barrera (L)
8. 3B Kevin Smith (R)
9. CF Cristian Pache (R)

• RHP James Kaprielian

Twins lineup (away)

1. 1B Luis Arraez (L)
2. 2B Jorge Polanco (S)
3. DH Gary Sanchez (R)
4. RF Max Kepler (L)
5. LF Nick Gordon (L)
6. CF Gilberto Celestino (R)
7. SS Royce Lewis (R)
8. 3B Jose Miranda (R)
9. C Ryan Jeffers (R)

• RHP Dylan Bundy

How to watch/listen

• Date: Tuesday, May 17
• Time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• TV: NBC Sports California
• Radio: 960 AM
• Streaming (listen): A’s Cast