Cardinals vs. A’s game thread

The A’s will look to escape the series victorious just once with their ace on the mound

The A’s can’t win their ongoing series with the St. Louis Cardinals but they can make their lives a lot easier today with a win to salvage a game in the three-game series.

Good morning and happy hump day, A’s Nation. Today the A’s will look to avoid their second losing sweep of the season thus far as they hand the ball to Paul Blackburn to cap off the series and the homestand.

Blackburn has been the talk of the A’s organization and one of the talks of baseball so far this season. He leads the entire MLB in ERA and enters Wednesday as the only qualified pitcher still with a 0.00 ERA. Through 19.1 scoreless innings, Blackburn has struck out 11, walked just four and surrendered 11 hits in three starts. He has just one win to show for it, however; a number that will hopefully increase this afternoon.

Below is the lineup manager Mark Kotsay will field behind Blackburn this afternoon:

Pitching has been a highlight for the Redbirds all series long, and today they’ll hand the ball to lefty Steven Matz. Matz, the once promising young arm, is making his fourth start of the season and has had three nice starts to his name so far in 2024.

Matz has worked 15 innings allowing three earned runs so far this season, and is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Allowing 17 hits across those innings is a little alarming, but Matz has seemed to work his way out of it more times than not. Like Blackburn, Matz also possesses wicked control with just three walks in 2024.

Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado have been tough outs for the A’s all series combining to go 7-16 with a pair of RBIs. Contreras, typically a catcher, will line up as the Cardinals Designated Hitter today to keep his hot bat in the lineup. This is what that lineup will look like:

Meanwhile, the A’s offense has fizzled for just two or less runs in five of their last six games so today feels like an offensive explosion waiting to happen (hopefully). A win today would end the A’s home stand at 3-3 rather than 2-4, so a little momentum before ten straight days on the road can only help. Right?

Enjoy the game and your days, AN. See you in a few hours.