Last night wasn’t fun, but the Athletics have a chance to flip the script this afternoon in Game 2 of this weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians. The A’s are still in first place even after last night’s loss but we got the Mariners hot on our heels so let’s keep them at bay with a win today.
Before we get to the game info, the A’s made a minor roster move this morning, recalling right-hander Luis Morales from Triple-A while optioning lefty Brady Basso back to Las Vegas:
Adding Morales at this juncture is a bit of an interesting move. The former top pitching prospect has struggled all year long, first in two starts for the big league team and then in three for the Aviators. Walks have been a major problem for the young arm and it doesn’t seem like he’s figured it out while in the minors. The team doesn’t have an official starter listed for Tuesday’s game in Philadelphia so it’s possible the team wants to give him another chance against big league hitters. Meanwhile Basso will return to Triple-A after a tough outing last night that essentially lost the game for the A’s. He’ll be back whenever the A’s need a fresh, left-handed arm for their bullpen.
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Anyway, back to the contest at hand. Going for the A’s on the pitching side of things will be lefty Jacob Lopez. He’s in serious need of a quality outing this afternoon as he’s currently one of the weak links in the starting five. His 5.84 ERA isn’t pretty to look at and the team just recalled Morales from Triple-A. It’s now May and the A’s are in first place so the team can’t afford to keep going this route if he can’t straighten things out.
The A’s starting lineup this afternoon looks like this:
The A’s are going back to their usual top of the starting lineup. Nick Kurtz is back in the leadoff spot followed by Langeliers, Soderstrom, and Rooker. Outfielder Carlos Cortes is back in there behind Rook after getting the day off yesterday against a southpaw. Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil form the tag team up the middle and in the lineup while Lawrence Butler is in center field and Darell Hernaiz rounds things out manning the hot corner.
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Those hitters are set to go up against Cleveland right-hander Slade Cecconi. Now in his fourth season and second in Cleveland, Cecconi has been very up and down so far this year. He’s been hit harder more often than not and carries a bloated 6.23 ERA into today’s contest. We may be in store for a high-scoring affair in today’s game.
Cleveland’s starting lineup this afternoon:
Need to take this one today to set up a series win tomorrow. Let’s go A’s!
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