We’re in first place baby! The A’s came into Arlington and took the first game of this three-game weekend series. Now the team has a chance to put some real distance between them and their division foes as the A’s go for their second straight win in Texas. It’s not even May yet but still, these games count at the end of the year so gotta play hard. Should be an exciting one this evening!
The A’s are sending left-hander Jeffrey Springs to the hill this evening for his sixth start of the season. The southpaw
has been electric for the squad in the early going, making a claim to be the best arm in the starting five. He’s coming off an especially rough outing though as he allowed seven White Sox to cross home plate last time out. The veteran will be looking to bounce back this afternoon against a team he’s had some success against in the past.
Here’s how manager Mark Kotsay decided to put together his lineup for this evening’s contest:
The starting lineup gets a smidgen of a shake up at the top as Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers swap spots. It’ll be Shea leading things off for the A’s as he’ll also be getting a half-day off by DH’ing this afternoon. After that we got a new name in the #3 spot with another rookie in Colby Thomas. Kotsay sure likes to test things out in the most critical spot in the batting order, doesn’t he?
No Carlos Cortes in the lineup. Interesting decision by Kotsay but everyone needs a breather. We got most of the regulars in there this afternoon though, save for right and second base. The keystone will be handled by Darell Hernaiz this evening as Jeff McNeil gets a day off. Austin Wynns is behind the plate and batting eighth, right ahead of new center fielder Zack Gelof, who earned another start after a fantastic night on both sides of the ball. Are we seeing the beginnings of a legitimate option in center? Another big night would go a long ways for him.
They’ll be tasked with going up against their own left-handed opponent tonight in MacKenzie Gore. Like Springs, he’s had a solid start to his season overall but is on the downturn coming off a rough outing last time out. The A’s would surely like to see that trend continue and hopefully they can jump on the young lefty soon and get him out of the game early. We want to see the relievers in the Texas bullpen this evening.
And the Texas starting nine:
All the big bats in there tonight as they stack up the right-handed hitters. Will they be able to get to Springs though? Doubt it.
Let’s go A’s!
