A familiar face is on the mound for Baltimore
Alright. Last night was tough. Baltimore is a though opponent. But today is a brand new day and the A’s can right the ship with a win tonight.
Lefty Ken Waldichuk is set for his 16th start of the season, and he’ll have a tough test tonight against the team with the best record in the American League. The Baltimore lineup is filled with young stud hitters finally coming into their own. On the plus side of things, those same hitters haven’t really faced Waldichuk much, if at all. Waldichuk is also coming off two straight solid outings, pitching 11 innings while allowing just three runs total. Even more encouraging is he only walked a couple batters while racking up 11 K’s. He’ll be hoping to keep that going against a hot Baltimore squad that’s fighting for the AL East division crown.
On the Baltimore side, old friend Coke Irvin is set to take the ball for his new club. It’s been a tough year overall for the left-hander, and he was even demoted to Triple-A for a time. He’s since returned to the Orioles but not in a starting capacity. Six of his last seven outings have come out of the bullpen and he only just recently returned to the rotation. His last appearance was arguably his best for the Orioles as he tossed five shutout in his first start in over a month. The A’s would like to jump on him early and keep him from getting into a rhythm.
The Oakland offense has been inconsistent at best in recent games, sometimes scoring 5+ runs and other times only managing one or two. Facing off against a hot-hitting club like Baltimore, every run is going to matter tonight and the A’s bats need to capitalize on as many scoring opportunities as they can. Expect a lot of scoring tonight.
Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 19, 6:07 p.m. PDT
Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California
TV: NBCSCA
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: A’s Cast, KIQI 1010, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2
