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A's day off report
By Greg Lee & Tony Renteria August 12, 2010 |
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The Oakland A's got a much needed break after playing in Seattle which opened up this six game road trip last Monday night. The concluding the Seattle visit last Wednesday avoiding a three game sweep by beating the Mariners 5-1. The A's had some tough odds to deal with in the Seattle series after the M's fired their manager Don Wakamatsu after floundering in last place and team morale being shot they hired their triple A Tacoma manager Daren Brown and snapped a seven game losing streak last Monday and taking Tuesday night's game for the first two games of the series. The A's salvaged the series with the win on Wednesday night improving their season record to 57-56 and are now eight games out behind first place Texas. What's key here is that the A's were able to beat Texas in two of their three games at Oakland last weekend to show that they can battle for a shot trying to get back in this thing. Eight games is a lot of work but if the A's can string some winning series together starting in Minnesota this Friday night followed by Toronto and Tampa Bay for a seven game home stand starting Monday August 16th. The A's will need to come out with their bats at the Metrodome and A's hitting leader Rajai Davis with a clip of .275 will like to add some points to that average and help get the Athletics going in their charge to improve in the American League West standings. Other A's to look for is A's catcher Kurt Suzuki who has 12 home runs and can bust out at anytime his needed bat will be the difference in any improvement in the last two months of this season. Kevin Kouzmanoff the has 55 RBI's and is a vital part of getting runners over in key situations for the A's this month of August will be critical for him and his contribution will be sorely needed if they A's are to go anywhere. Pitching starters Trever Cahill and Gio Gonzalez will need to lead the rotation in victories and leads going into the late innings to get some quality and quantity wins. Cahill leads Oakland with wins with 12 and ERA with 2.56. Gonzalez leads the A's with an impressive 114 strikeouts. For the Friday night contest in Minneapolis: Gonzalez will start the series with a win loss record of 10-7 and ERA of 3.51, Gonzalez has won three of his last five starts. He will be opposed by the Twins Carl Pavano 14-7 ERA 3.28. The Twins have won six of their last eight games and occupy first place in the American Leauge Central by one game over the White Sox. Look for the Twins to give the A's fits if the A's don't lock down the Twins might offensive line up early and the A's start to pile runs early. For example they'll have to go after Pavano early and stay after him and their pitching staff if they expect to make a series out this in Minnesota. Tony Renteria and Greg Lee cover sports headlines for Sportstalk Radio |
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