Game Thread #54: A’s vs. Red Sox

The Oakland A’s homestand isn’t going great. They dropped six of seven games to a pair of Texas opponents, including a three-game sweep by the Astros earlier this week.

Now Boston comes to town. The A’s host the Red Sox for three games at the Coliseum before heading on the road next week.

On the mound for Oakland is James Kaprielian. The right-hander got knocked around in each of his last two starts against the Mariners and Rangers, allowing a total of nine runs in 9⅓ innings, including three homers. However, last year he faced Boston twice and held them to one run in each outing.

The Sox counter with Nathan Eovaldi. The right-hander pitched against the A’s once last year, turning in a quality effort, and he’s off to another solid campaign so far this summer with a 3.77 ERA. However, he’s already allowed 16 homers in 57⅓ innings this season, an unsightly average of one for every 14.6 batters faced.

Of course, this isn’t the only Boston team in the Bay Area right now. The Celtics are visiting the Golden State Warriors for the NBA Finals, with Game 1 last night at Chase Center and Game 2 there tomorrow before the series moves east.

A’s lineup (home)

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

• RHP James Kaprielian

Red Sox lineup (away)

1. CF Enrique Hernandez (R)
2. 3B Rafael Devers (L)
3. DH J.D. Martinez (R)
4. SS Xander Bogaerts (R)
5. LF Alex Verdugo (L)
6. 2B Trevor Story (R)
7. RF Franchy Cordero (L)
8. 1B Bobby Dalbec (R)
9. C Kevin Plawecki (R)

• RHP Nathan Eovaldi

How to watch/listen

• Date: Friday, June 3
• Time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• TV: NBC Sports California
• Radio: 960 AM
• Streaming (listen): A’s Cast