Luis Medina starts as A’s look for series win against the Diamondbacks
Medina will make his third career start Wednesday afternoon
After a thrilling walk-off win Tuesday night, the Oakland Athletics will wrap up a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. Oakland dropped Monday’s series opener 5-2, but rallied back from an 8-4 deficit Tuesday for a walk-off 9-8 win in 12 innings. Luis Medina will make his third start of the season for the A’s Wednesday while the Diamondbacks will go with righty Ryne Nelson.
Oakland acquired Medina as part of the Frankie Montas trade with the Yankees last August. He made his major league debut on April 26 in a spot start where he showed flashes, but was ultimately hit hard allowing eight hits and seven earned runs in five innings. He returned to the minors after that game, but was brought back on May 11 where he allowed five hits, three runs and didn’t walk a batter over six innings. On the strength of that performance, he will stick in the rotation for Wednesday’s start against Arizona.
Nelson enters Wednesday’s outing with a 6.20 ERA and a 5.07 FIP in 40 2/3 innings. He got off to a decent enough start for Arizona but has struggled of late allowing 34 hits and 16 earned runs over his last 18 2/3 innings. Wednesday will be Nelson’s first career appearance against the A’s.
There was a lot to like with Tuesday’s offensive performance. Esteury Ruiz finished with two hits, including the game-winner in the 12th. Brent Rooker moved up to the second spot in the order and reached base four times. Ryan Noda came off the bench and delivered a game-tying grand slam in the seventh inning. Noda is hitting just .221 on the season, but has a .404 on-base percentage and a 144 wRC+. The strikeout rate is still high at 32.4% but he has put together an intriguing season overall.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, May 17, 12:37 p.m. PDT
Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California
TV: NBCSCA
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2