A’s vs. Diamondbacks game thread

Losers of five in a row, the A’s kick-off another road series tonight in the desert

To say a day off was needed for the A’s yesterday could be an understatement.

A day before, they were swept by their division rival Los Angeles Angels in uninspiring fashion to extend their losing streak to five games overall. The A’s haven’t won a road series since April 26 - 28, and the task doesn’t get any easier tonight as they open up another three-game stand against the reigning National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks in the desert.

Good evening and happy Friday A’s fans. We made it to the weekend!

I say reigning NL Champs but the Dbacks have had a sluggish first half of their 2024 campaign with a 39-42 record which is good for third in the NL West. It’s a lot better than the Angels, but even the Dbacks would tell you themselves they’ve underwhelmed and they enter Friday losers of two straight also.

Taking the ball for the A’s today is JP Sears. Sears’ last two starts — both against the Minnesota Twins — were disastrous as he allowed nine hits and four runs over 4.1 frames in a loss on June 16 followed by nine hits and eight runs over just 1.1 innings tossed on June 22. It’ll be good for Sears to see some new hitters tonight albeit against a dangerous Dbacks lineup.

As for the A’s lineup, this is what Mark Kotsay wrote up for tonight:

Toeing the rubber against Sears is 25-year-old righty and former 33rd overall pick back in 2020, Slade Cecconi. Cecconi has pitched to a 2-6 record and 5.74 ERA through ten starts this season including his own fair share of forgetful outings as well. He’s also 8th in the NL in home runs surrendered with 12 which plays into the A’s strengths.

Pitching hasn’t treated the Dbacks kindly this season but their offense surely has.

They enter this weekends series top-10 in baseball in categories like average, RBIs, runs, OBP, hits and more while also ranking bottom-10 in total punch-out's. Watch out for Ketel Marte, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Christian Walker, and Corbin Carroll in the Dbacks lineup specifically even though it’s deep 1-9. Carroll has had a sophomore slump of a 2024 season after bursting onto the scene quickly last year, but he’s still dangerous in many aspects of the game.

Below is the Dbacks lineup tonight as written by Torey Lovullo, last years fourth place finisher in the NL Manager of the Year voting.

It’s time to turn the ship around and put this losing streak in the past. Let’s go A’s!