JP Sears tries to stop the bleeding as A’s take on Orioles

After a thorough beat down over the weekend, the Oakland Athletics will try to pick up the pieces Monday when they begin a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. The A’s have lost four-straight and were outscored 31-5 in a three-game sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays to start the road trip.

As bad as the starting rotation has been, Oakland’s offense has continued to sputter as well. The A’s enter Monday tied for dead last with 27 runs scored through their first eight games. They have a 67 wRC+ as a team which is 28th in the league and ahead of only the Royals and the Tigers. To make matters worse, Seth Brown is expected to be placed on the 10-day injured list with an oblique injury prior to Monday’s game. Kevin Smith will reportedly take Brown’s spot on the active roster.

JP Sears will make his second start of the season in Monday’s opener and the A’s are hoping that he can provide some length. Oakland starters logged 12 innings and allowed 20 earned runs. That is including James Kaprielian who was sent back out for the fifth Sunday just to try and save another inning for the bullpen.

Sears lasted 4 2/3 innings in his first start against Cleveland while allowing eight hits and three runs. He does have good numbers against the Orioles in his career allowing just two runs over 12 innings in three career appearances (2 starts).

While the A’s have struggled across the board offensively as their .192 team average would attest, they need more out of a couple of their offseason acquisitions. Jace Peters is just 3-for-25 at the plate and Aledmys Diaz is 5-for-31. Both made costly defensive miscues in Sunday’s loss that led to a big inning against Kaprielian.

Kyle Gibson will make his third start of the season in Monday’s opener. He allowed six hits and two runs over seven innings in his last start against the Rangers. Gibson has a 4.05 ERA in 10 career starts against Oakland.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, April 10, 3:35 p.m. PDT

Location: Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland

TV: NBCSCA

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2