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The Guardians continue to work their way through the soft spot in the schedule, having won 7 of 9. The A's come in for a four-game weekend series. There is rain in the forecast for Sunday's game, but since it starts at 11:30 a.m. and this is the last time these teams will play this year, I'm confident the game will be played even if they have to wait eight hours and play a night game.
The A's are a mess, to put it mildly. They have lost eight in a row, being outscored 49-14. They've lost 11 of 12 and 18 of 23. The fire sale last winter is catching up to them big time. As cleveland.com put it:
The A’s rank last in the majors in batting, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS and have the second-fewest runs scored and home runs. Oakland pitchers have the third-highest opponents batting average and fourth-highest on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS against. The A’s have issued the fourth-most walks and have the fifth-fewest strikeouts in the big leagues.
On top of that, the Guardians swept the three-game series in Oakland, outscoring the A's 19-12. It might seem that a four-game sweep is very possible, even likely.
However, the A's play much better on the road with a 13-15 record as opposed to 7-23 at home. (How do they sell any tickets at all?) Their starting pitching is respectable; the four starters scheduled to go this weekend have ERA's of 6.06, 2.62, 3.06, and 3.00. They hit better on the road than at home and average 4.03 runs per game as opposed to 2.52 at home. So we're getting a team that is about .500 on the road, has three good starters going, and averages four runs per game.
Their bullpen ranks 24th in ERA so it appears the key is to drive up the starters' pitch count and get to the bullpen as early in the game as possible.
James Kaprelian, a 28-year-old right-hander with eight career wins goes tonight. His ERA this year is 6.06 and he has really struggled lately, giving up 14 runs in his last 14.1 innings over three starts.The Guardians scored four runs in two innings off him in Oakland. Lefties are hitting .286/.851 against him. He's been good the first time through the batting order (.158 BAA) but the second look he's been hammered (.314/.936). Hopefully the second time through our lefties will do some damage, get him out early, and make them work their bullpen in the series opener.
Konnor Pilkington gets his third start for the G's. Konnor is coming off an excellent 5-inning, no runs allowed start against the Royals. His home ERA is 1.54. His biggest problem is that opposing batters are hitting .303 with runners on and .333 with RISP. But his trend line (in a very small sample) is up. He was excellent in the bullpen (5 scoreless innings), shaky in his first two starts, and dominant in his third start. He faces a pretty bad offensive team tonight so hopefully he'll replicate his last start against KC.
This could be a series where games are decided late. The A's have good starters the last three games so we could see close, low-scoring games through the 5th or 6th innings. I think the G's have the big advantage late, however, since the A's bullpen is weak and the G's have been very good at scoring late. Also, the G's bullpen is well above average while the A's offense is weak, so the last 3-4 innings should be dominated by the Guardians.
The A's are a mess, to put it mildly. They have lost eight in a row, being outscored 49-14. They've lost 11 of 12 and 18 of 23. The fire sale last winter is catching up to them big time. As cleveland.com put it:
The A’s rank last in the majors in batting, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS and have the second-fewest runs scored and home runs. Oakland pitchers have the third-highest opponents batting average and fourth-highest on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS against. The A’s have issued the fourth-most walks and have the fifth-fewest strikeouts in the big leagues.
On top of that, the Guardians swept the three-game series in Oakland, outscoring the A's 19-12. It might seem that a four-game sweep is very possible, even likely.
However, the A's play much better on the road with a 13-15 record as opposed to 7-23 at home. (How do they sell any tickets at all?) Their starting pitching is respectable; the four starters scheduled to go this weekend have ERA's of 6.06, 2.62, 3.06, and 3.00. They hit better on the road than at home and average 4.03 runs per game as opposed to 2.52 at home. So we're getting a team that is about .500 on the road, has three good starters going, and averages four runs per game.
Their bullpen ranks 24th in ERA so it appears the key is to drive up the starters' pitch count and get to the bullpen as early in the game as possible.
James Kaprelian, a 28-year-old right-hander with eight career wins goes tonight. His ERA this year is 6.06 and he has really struggled lately, giving up 14 runs in his last 14.1 innings over three starts.The Guardians scored four runs in two innings off him in Oakland. Lefties are hitting .286/.851 against him. He's been good the first time through the batting order (.158 BAA) but the second look he's been hammered (.314/.936). Hopefully the second time through our lefties will do some damage, get him out early, and make them work their bullpen in the series opener.
Konnor Pilkington gets his third start for the G's. Konnor is coming off an excellent 5-inning, no runs allowed start against the Royals. His home ERA is 1.54. His biggest problem is that opposing batters are hitting .303 with runners on and .333 with RISP. But his trend line (in a very small sample) is up. He was excellent in the bullpen (5 scoreless innings), shaky in his first two starts, and dominant in his third start. He faces a pretty bad offensive team tonight so hopefully he'll replicate his last start against KC.
This could be a series where games are decided late. The A's have good starters the last three games so we could see close, low-scoring games through the 5th or 6th innings. I think the G's have the big advantage late, however, since the A's bullpen is weak and the G's have been very good at scoring late. Also, the G's bullpen is well above average while the A's offense is weak, so the last 3-4 innings should be dominated by the Guardians.
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