Elephant Rumblings: A’s Back On The Road In Detroit

Aug 25, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn (70) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Morning A’s fans! The club is hitting the road for the

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Morning A’s fans!

The club is hitting the road for the final two series of the first half, starting with a trip to Detroit to take on the Tigers then heading back west to Chicago for three against the White Sox. At the begining of the year if you had told someone that Chicago would be in first place in the AL Central while the Tigers are preparing to sell, you’d have had a hard time getting anyone to take you seriously. But here we are, with the White Sox’s 47-42 record giving them a one-game lead

in the division while Tigers, at 40-50 and seven back in the Central, look likely to begin taking offers for their best players, with one pitcher in particular set to force a bidding war.

The A’s will have the honor of facing that very pitcher tonight in their first game outside of California in almost a full month. It’s Tarik Skubal going for the Tigers tonight, set for his 12th start of the year. It’s incredible that the 29-year-0ld is even pitching right now considering he just only underwent elbow surgery on May 6th. He hasn’t been quite his usual dominant form, as his 3.15 ERA is a far cry from the sheer dominance the two-time Cy Young winner displayed over the previous two seasons. He’s still having an overall fantastic year and with his track record he’s going to be the hottest commodity on the trade market over the coming weeks.

Before he departs Detroit however the A’s have to take him down. The right-hander has generally dominated the A’s in his career, like so many other teams. In 10 career starts against the Green & Gold Skubal owns a pristine 2.81 ERA, though that’s still only gotten him four wins compared to three losses. He’ll be running into the A’s at the right time though as the squad is really struggling to remain competitive and stay afloat in the AL playoff race.

The club comes into today on a three-game losing streak after getting swept by the Miami Marlins at home. They’re just 3-11 over their past 14 games, which has dropped them to 41-49 and now 5 1/2 back of the division lead and four back of the final wild card spot with five teams to leap over. The team has generally floated around the .500 mark this year but this is the current low point for the squad and things will need to turn around fast if the A’s want to get back into the playoff hunt. Getting a few wins before the All Star Break would go a long way towards that goal.

Taking on Skubal tonight is the emerging J.T. Ginn. He’s actually having a better statistical season than his opponennt tonight as the first-year full-time starter has a 3.04 ERA in his 19 games this year. And taking out the three relief appearances he made in April that number drops lower to 2.87 in 16 starts. It wasn’t exactly unsurprising that Ginn didn’t earn an All-Star nod but still disappointing for A’s fans who have seen an emerging ace blossom before our very eyes. He’s coming off a strong performance last time out (6 IP, 1 ER) and the A’s could certainly use more of that tonight to help snap this losing streak.

After tonight’s contest the middle game tomorrow will be a matchup between lefty Jeffrey Springs and right-hander Troy Melton. Melton has been borderline unhittable in his seven starts for Detroit as he’ll bring a 2.07 ERA into tomorrow’s game. He’s only ever faced the A’s once in his short career, firing three shutout innings in relief last season so tonight will be his first start against the Green & Gold. Springs meanwhile has gotten hit hard in recent outings, allowing six runs last time out against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His 5.79 ERA is hard to stomach and at this point in the season it’s starting to get frustrating to see manager Mark Kotsay continue to ride him. There are younger options that might actually be around for the next A’s playoff team and it’s time to start getting them some experience, even if that means sending Springs into relief.

Then we wrap up the series on Thursday in the finale, where it’ll be a battle between young righty Jack Perkins facing veteran Framber Valdez. The longtime Astro lefty isn’t having the dominant year the Tigers were expecting when they shelled out that huge contract for him this offseason but he’s managed to be serviceable all the same. Perkins meanwhile continues to struggle in his extended look in the starting rotation. Overall he’s sporting a 8.10 ERA in six starts, including arguably his worst appearance ever last time on the mound when he allowed seven earned runs to the Marlins. Perkins is one of those young arms A’s fans want out there getting his feet wet but even that’s tough to swallow. Hopefully Kotsay knows what he’s doing and isn’t destroying the 26-year-old’s confidence.

First pitch is at 3:40. Have a great one guys.