A’s vs. Phillies game thread

Final series of the first half kicks off today

The All-Star Break can’t come soon enough for our Green & Gold. Just one more series before a nice long rest for the A’s, something the whole team seems like it desperately needs.

The club with the second-worst record in the AL is facing off against the team with the best record in all of baseball. So of course the A’s are going to get a sweep, right? Kidding. Although sneaking out a win would be nice. Maybe today will be that day as the club marches out lefty Hogan Harris. Originally scheduled for yesterday’s start, Harris had his schedule pushed back a day after becoming a first-time father (congrats Hogan!). Maybe that’ll give him some extra juice to go out today and shut down the vaunted Philly offense. Harris has been a godsend for the A’s rotation so it’s good to welcome the lefty back.

The Phillies will counter Harris with their own lefty in Ranger Suárez, one of Philadelphia’s two All-Star pitchers. It won’t be an easy task for the A’s bats today as Suárez sports a fantastic 2.58 ERA on the year. That said, he’s looked much more hittable in his last two starts where he’s allowed 11 runs over just 9 ²⁄₃ innings. He’s quickly approaching his career high in innings so maybe he’s running out of gas here in the final days before the break. Let’s not give him an easy walk to the finish line.

Here is the lineup the A’s will rock with against Suárez:

As you can see the lineup is stuffed to the gills with right-handed bats today against Suárez. Not a single lefty bat in the mix in the starting lineup but you can expect some pinch-hitting appearances if they can get Suárez out of the game early enough. Or at all.

And here is how Philly will counter:

Not an easy task for Harris today but he’ll be up for the challenge. Let’s go A’s!