The A’s are back at it looking to put an end to this two-game losing streak. At 21-20 the A’s are close to the .500 mark and would like to avoid hitting that threshold tonight. They’ll face the St. Louis Cardinals again in this one and with the Mariners just one game behind and on a two-game winning streak the Green & Gold need a win if they want to remain in pole position in the AL West.
Taking the ball for the home squad this evening in the middle game of the series will be right-hander J.T. Ginn.
Coming off a horrible start, Ginn absolutely bounced back in a huge way his last time on the mound, pitching eight full innings of one-run baseball against the Phillies last week. That was clearly his best start of his young career as he punched out eight Philly batters with the only run coming off a solo home run to superstar slugger Kyle Schwarber. Nothing to be ashamed of there and plenty to be proud of his most recent outing. How will the young righty follow that performance up?
The Athletics’ lineup this evening shakes out like this:
Tonight is going to be a memorable one. We have a big league debut this evening as outfielder Henry Bolte draws the start for his first big league game tonight manning center field. Manager Mark Kotsay is also clearly not afraid to throw the well-regarded Bolte into the middle of the lineup as he’ll be batting fifth tonight, right behind Brent Rooker, who will grab his glove and head to left field. Langeliers is DH’ing but in there and him ‘Bangeliers’ and Nick Kurtz lead things off atop the batting order. They’re followed by right fielder Colby Thomas, who is quietly on a decent 5-for-15 stretch with one homer. And as a right-handed hitter it helps that the opposing starter is a left-hander (lefty hitters Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler are on the bench tonight against a lefty, but they both could use the off day as a mental reset).
Bolte isn’t the only one making a debut this evening. Second base will be handled by journeyman infielder Michael Stefanic, who will be making his first big league appearance of the year. The light-hitting second baseman/third baseman has bounced around in recent years and didn’t hit much in his time with the Aviators (.250/.351/.355 with two homeruns), but the A’s don’t need him to be a star. Just hold down the fort when you’re in the lineup. He’ll be joined in tonight’s starting nine along with catcher Jonah Heim, who draws is second start with the A’s, and fellow infielders Zack Gelof (third base) and Darell Hernaiz (shortstop)
As for St. Louis’s starting pitcher tonight, it’ll be lefty Matthew Liberatore for them this evening as the fifth-year big leaguer will get the ball for his ninth start for the Cards. The 26-year-old has been uneven for the Red Birds through the first month-plus, posting four starts with one run allowed (plus another two-run showing), but also three outings where he’s yielded four or more runs. That adds up to a decent 4.07 ERA. The A’s will be hoping to get the lesser version of Liberatore in this one though he’s on a small roll with quality starts in his last two outings. He shut down the A’s in his lone start against us last season, pitching into the sixth inning while allowing no runs on just four hits in an eventual Cardinals win.
And the Cardinals will line up like this tonight:
Mostly the same hitters in the top half that were in there last night, just some minor lineup adjustments. Let’s hope they messed up their mojo and aren’t able to put up another 6-spot in this one.
A win puts us two games over the .500 mark and assures that the team will remain in first place at least for one more day. If you’re scoreboard watching during the game the second-place Mariners are going up against fellow AL West rival Astros so we’re rooting for a Houston victory over our Seattle counterparts. Let’s go A’s!
Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA
Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast
