JP Sears, A’s look to avoid sweep Sunday against Baltimore

JP Sears will take the mound Sunday as the Oakland Athletics look to avoid a sweep against the Baltimore Orioles. Right-hander Kyle Bradish will get the start for the Orioles.

The young A’s have battled in the series, but don’t have anything to show for it. They banged out 12 hits in the series opener Friday, but were just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base in a 9-4 loss. Ken Waldichuk turned in a good outing Saturday before Adrian Martinez allowed five runs (three earned) in the 10th inning for a 7-2 loss.

Sears has been the A’s most consistent starter this season, but has shown some signs of fatigue down the stretch. He’s already logged a career-high 130 2/3 innings through 24 starts so it will be interesting to see how Oakland decides to handle him over the final month. He allowed six hits, four walks and three runs over five innings in his last start against the Cardinals. That was just the second time all season that he had issued more than three walks in a start.

Bradish has put together a solid season for the Orioles posting a 3.18 ERA and a 3.66 FIP in 121 2/3 innings. He’s been quietly consistent and is coming off of a good outing in his last time out where he allowed five hits, two runs and struck out seven over six innings against the Mariners.

Oakland finished with six hits in Saturday’s loss and they all came from three players. Zack Gelof, Aledmys Diaz and Shea Langeliers all had two hits each. Both of Diaz’s two hits left the yard. For Gelof, it was his sixth multi-hit game in August and he is now sporting a .993 OPS for the season.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Sunday, August 20, 1:07 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