Oakland A's Game 78 Preview

Blake VandeBunte by Contributor Written on July 01, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 16:  Dallas Braden #51 of the Oakland Athletics pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 16, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
  • Date: July 1, 2009
  • Time: 3:35 p.m.
  • Teams: Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics
  • Park: Oakland—Alameda County Stadium
  • Weather: 77 degrees and sunny
  • Starting Pitchers: Justin Verlander (8-3, 3.40),  Dallas Braden (5-7, 3.26)
  • Records: Detroit (43-34),  Oakland (32-44)
  • Last 10 Games: Detroit (7-3),  Oakland (3-7)

My Two Cents

Greetings against from our Nation’s capital. Today is a bit of a big game for the Tigers.  They have split the first two games of their three-game set with the lowly A’s, and a win today obviously gets them the series win. 

More than that, though, is that it would be nice to have the club getting off on the right foot for their weekend series in Minnesota. The Tigers currently lead their AL Central rivals by four games in the division and a series win this weekend would be absolutely huge. 

Detroit should have a decent shot this afternoon with Justin Verlander taking the hill. He’s cooled off in his last three starts with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 5.29. 

However, his innings have also been down over that time. Maybe a little breather was all the guy needed. Verlander has not faced Oakland yet this season but has 2.61 ERA in six career starts against them. 

Dallas Braden is going for the A’s and he has been their ace this season.  His record is below .500 because the team isn’t very good, but that ERA has been low all year.  Braden started against the Tigers back in May and got shelled. 

He took the loss as he coughed up 9 hits and 6 runs in only 5 innings of work. Ryan Raburn doubled and homered off the Oakland left-hander.

(0)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

0 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

24
reads

0
comments

written on July 01, 2009 Preview/Prediction

The best Athletics newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.