Sweep?
The Oakland A’s are starting to heat up, finally. They’ve won seven of their last nine games, in no small part due to the three new hitters they acquired at the trade deadline. The trio combined for seven hits and seven RBI yesterday.
Now Oakland has a chance to sweep the Texas Rangers, in the finale of their three-game series at the Coliseum. The A’s won an 11-inning walk-off on Friday, then a blowout on Saturday, so we’ll see what Sunday afternoon brings. The Rangers are arguably the worst team in the American League, deep in last place in the AL West division, but they’ve given Oakland some trouble this season so they aren’t to be taken too lightly.
That’s especially true on the pitching side, where Jordan Lyles has faced the A’s twice this season and been quality both times (6 ip, 2 runs in each game). He faced 47 batters in those two outings without allowing any homers.
Meanwhile, Oakland sends James Kaprielian to the mound, which is great news before he even throws a pitch. The right-hander spent the last week-plus on the injured list with a shoulder issue but was activated today, so it’s nice to see him back in action so soon. He’s gone against Texas three times this year, with two quality efforts and one solid five-inning appearance.
A’s lineup (home)
- LF Mark Canha (R)
- CF Starling Marte (R)
- 1B Matt Olson (L)
- DH Jed Lowrie (S)
- 2B Josh Harrison (R)
- C Sean Murphy (R)
- 3B Matt Chapman (R)
- RF Seth Brown (L)
- SS Elvis Andrus (R)
- RHP James Kaprielian
Brownie makes his first start since being called up again.
Rangers lineup (away)
- SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R)
- 3B Yonny Hernandez (S)
- RF Adolis Garcia (R)
- 1B Nathaniel Lowe (L)
- 2B Andy Ibañez (R)
- C Jonah Heim (S)
- DH Brock Holt! (L)
- CF DJ Peters (R)
- LF Jason Martin (L)
- RHP Jordan Lyles
Let’s go Oakland!
How To Watch
- Date: Sunday, August 8
- Time: 1:07 p.m. PT
- TV (local): NBC Sports California
- Radio: 960 AM (more listings here)
- Streaming (watch): NBCS website (with cable sub)
- Streaming (listen): A’s Cast