A’s vs. Angels game thread

Looking for a win against these guys

Feels like we just saw these guys, right? After getting swept last week by the Angels, the Athletics now welcome Los Angeles to town for a little bit of payback.

Tonight’s series kicks off with rookie righty Mitch Spence taking the ball for the Green & Gold. The Rule 5 pick has been solid enough for the A’s this year but is coming off a rough outing when he gave up six runs against these very same Angels. A lot of that damage came in one inning so Spence will be hoping to avoid that big disaster inning tonight in his rematch against these guys.

Opposing him will be right-hander José Soriano. Only in his second major league season and first as a starter, Soriano has been a godsend for the Angels, positing a 3.48 ERA over 72 ¹⁄₃ innings while providing a consistent force in the LA rotation. That’s something they haven’t had a ton of in recent years so his worth to them is extra valuable. Hopefully the A’s can knock him off his game tonight and get him out of rhythm early and often.

Here is the Oakland lineup that’ll be facing Soriano tonight:

Tonight’s game sees the return of young third baseman Brett Harris to the team, and in the starting lineup no less. The rest of the lineup looks about how you’d expect facing a right-handed pitched, with Bleday at the top and Soderstrom at first base. Let’s see if this formula works against Soriano.

And here is the Los Angeles lineup for tonight’s series opener:

Let’s go A’s! Time for some revenge for last week’s sweep.