A’s vs. Rays game thread

Hogan Harris and the boys look to get back in the win column again to take the series in St. Pete

As the A’s wrap up their final full road series of May today, they’ll do so in hopes of also claiming their first and only road series victory of the month too.

Rise and shine A’s nation, we got morning baseball today!

Todays game between the A’s and Tampa Bay Rays will be a rubber match of the three game stand after the A’s took the first in shutout fashion and the Rays got one back yesterday. From a neutral baseball fan perspective, yesterdays game was also about as exciting as they come with a little bit of everything. Something reminiscent of that today but with a win would be awesome.

And as aforementioned, the A’s are looking to pick up their first road series victory since April 26-28 in Baltimore. They have a golden chance today against a struggling Rays team that’s weaker than years past especially on the hitting side.

For the A’s, they’ll opt for Hogan Harris on the mound with a rather last-minute decision and announcement from the team. All signs yesterday pointed to Kyle Muller making his starting 2024 debut but Harris goes instead as Muller is headed to the Injured List retroactive to May 27 with shoulder tendinitis. More information can be found courtesy of @Kris Willis here.

Harris was pulled up from Triple-A Las Vegas this morning in return, and his last appearance at the big-league level came exactly two weeks ago going 3.1 strong in relief against the Houston Astros. This will be Harris’ third appearance of the season and first start himself, but he started six games last season and has been used as a long reliever anyways like Muller.

Below is the lineup supporting Harris tonight. Fan-favorite Aledmys Diaz makes his 2024 starting debut after his first at-bat of the season last night shockingly ended with a strikeout.

Rays manager Kevin Cash will utilize his famous “opener” today with Shawn Armstrong set to take the mound to clinch the bullpen game showdown. Armstrong has opened four games this season while appearing in 20 total, and there’s an obvious disparity between appearances he starts and doesn’t.

Regardless of an open or not, Armstrong is typically used for the same one to two inning slate, and he’s gone 3/4 openings allowing an earned run. His other 16 regular appearances have seen him allow an earned run just five times. Whatever he ends up being today, he won’t be there for long.

Here is the rest Rays starting nine backing up Armstrong; I surely won’t miss them officially announcing their lineups just an hour before first-pitch consistently on social media.

Getaway days are a whole lot better after a win, and some momentum heading into Atlanta would be nice too. Let’s go A’s!