Oakland’s losing woes show no sign of ending as the Athletics suffered a 4-2 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. It was another disappointing setback for the A’s who have now lost three of their last four games. With the loss, Oakland dropped to 29-42 in the AL West standings.
The A’s will look to return to winning ways tonight when they face the Angels in the opening game of their four-game set. Starting for Oakland in this American League matchup is right-hander Kendall Graveman (2-6, 4.87 ERA). He produced his best outing of the season in Friday’s start versus the Angels, allowing just one run while striking out four over seven strong innings. Graveman didn’t factor in the decision, however, as Oakland pulled off a narrow 3-2 win. It was the first time this season that the sinkerballer reached the seven-inning plateau. Graveman struggled prior to that outing, failing to finish five innings in his first two starts this month of June.
With Graveman still a big question mark at this point, the onus is on the A’s hitters to put up some runs on the board this evening. Expected to lead the Oakland lineup tonight is Khris Davis. The left fielder is batting .500 (3-of-6) in his career against Angels starter Tim Lincecum with two homers and two RBIs. More than their offense, though, the A’s will need to sort out their bumbling defense. They have committed a whopping 10 errors over the last nine games and 13 in their last 15 outings.
The A’s are 1-9 in their last 10 road games. They are pegged at +6,000to win the American League pennant.
Things are going from bad to worse for the Los Angeles Angels as they crashed to their third consecutive defeat with a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss to the Houston Astros. Jose Altuve homered and Marwin Gonzalez hit a tie-breaking RBI triple in the eighth inning for the Astros who have now won seven of their last eight games. With the loss, the Angels now trail the AL-West leading Texas Rangers by a whopping 15 games.
With the Angels struggling mightily right now, the pressure is on Tim Lincecum (1-0, 1.50 ERA) to deliver a great start for Los Angeles tonight. The right-hander was incredible in his season debut against the A’s on Saturday, surrendering just one run on four hits and a couple of walks in six solid innings. It’s bound to be an emotional evening for Lincecum who will be making his first-ever home start as a member of the Los Angeles Angels tonight.
He will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing an Oakland side that has been struggling on the offensive end this season. The A’s are fourth-worst in the majors in runs scored (274) this campaign. He excelled against the A’s in his first start since June 27 of last year, allowing just one earned run on 98 pitches. Prior to that outing, Lincecum went 0-2 with a 2.65 ERA in three rehab starts for the Angels.
That being said, Lincecum sure would appreciate it if his teammates would provide some run support tonight. The Angels will be counting on the bats of Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout to produce at the plate in the series opener. Calhoun is 6-for-21 in his last six games with a homer and two RBIs. Furthermore, Calhoun is 4-of-11 (.364) with a homer and an RBI in his career versus Graveman. Trout, on the other hand, leads the Angels in homers (14), RBIs (48) and on-base percentage (.401) this season. He is 2-of-12 lifetime against Graveman.
The Angels are 5-2 in their last seven home games against the A’s. They are priced at +8,000to win the World Series this year.
