Paul Blackburn, A’s set to begin homestand against Yankees

The Oakland Athletics return home after a 1-5 road trip to begin a six-game homestand with a three-game series against the New York Yankees. The A’s snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-4 win in the series opener in Toronto, but dropped the final two games giving them their third straight series loss.

The Yankees come into the series with a 43-35 record which is good enough for third place in the AL East. They have won two-straight, but are just 4-6 over their last 10 games.

Paul Blackburn will get the start in Tuesday’s series opener for Oakland. Blackburn allowed nine hits and four runs over five innings in his last start against Cleveland. He’s logged at least five innings in four of his five starts this season. He has faced the Yankees two times in his career allowing a combined three runs in 10 innings.

The Yankees will go with right-hander Jhony Brito who will be making his 12th appearance of the season. Injuries to New York’s rotation pressed Brito into service early in the 2023 season. He was sent back to the minors at the end of May, but returned to the major league roster on June 21 where he allowed just two hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Mariners. He faced Oakland back on May 10 and allowed five hits and two runs over 4 1/3 innings.

The A’s were outscored 19-4 over the final two games in Toronto. Tony Kemp has emerged from his season long slumber at the plate and has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games. He is hitting .393 over that stretch and has two homers. Oakland was 1-for-10 and left 12 men on base over the final two games against the Blue Jays.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday June 27, 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