A’s set to continue homestand against Phillies

The Oakland Athletics will try to snap a two-game skid Friday when they continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. JP Sears will get the start for Oakland while the Phillies will go with right-hander Taijuan Walker.

The Phillies come into the game playing well having won three-straight games and eight of their last 10. They are 35-34 for the season and are eight games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East standings.

The A’s won a season-best seven-straight games before dropping the final two games of a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Oakland missed out on a third-straight series win Thursday with a 4-3 loss. Still, this is an A’s team that has played much better of late and improved production from the rotation is a big reason why. Paul Blackburn allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings Thursday and Sears will look to continue his strong start.

Sears has gone six straight starts without allowing more than two runs. He’s logged at least five innings in seven of his past eight outings. Sears allowed two runs and struck out five over five innings in his last start against the Brewers. Friday will be Sears’ first career appearance against the Phillies.

Walker will be making his 15th start of the season for the Phillies and after an up and down start, he has put together an excellent June. Walker has allowed just four hits combined over his last two starts and has 13 strikeouts combined over his last two starts. Friday will be Walker’s first start against Oakland since the 2020 season.

Ryan Noda reached base three times in Thursday’s loss and has hit safely in four of his last five games. He has reached base in 12 of 13 games in June.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, June 16, 6:40 p.m. PDT

Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

TV: NBCSCA

Streaming: MLB.TV

Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2, KIQI 1010