Game #12: Athletics vs. Padres Game Thread

Tonight’s the night they win at home

A day after dropping a close one against San Diego last night, the Athletics get another chance to earn their first home win of the season as they take on the Padres in the second game of the series. A win today would mark the first victory at Sutter Health Park, as well as snap the team’s two-game skid.

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs will take the ball tonight for what will be his third start in the Green & Gold. His first outing showed that when he’s on his best game, Springs can take over a game and be a borderline ace. The lefty can use his deceptive delivery to fool hitters and make up for the lack of velocity, and paired with his above-average control he’s capable of being exactly what the A’s need in the top half of their rotation. On the other side of that coin, Springs’ lack of an overpowering fastball can become a massive problem when something else in Springs’ game isn’t working for him. We’ll see how he does tonight against a Padres lineup stacked with dangerous right-handed hitters. Overall on the season he’s sporting an even 4.00 ERA over his first two starts.

The Athletics lineup will break down like this tonight, and it should look mighty familiar if you watched yesterday’s game:

It’s the exact same starting nine as yesterday’s tough-luck loss. Manager Mark Kotsay certainly wouldn’t want to mess with Tyler Soderstrom in the batting order right now with the way he’s swinging the bat, and Jacob Wilson in the middle of the order is almost like a second leadoff hitter with how hot he is at the plate right now. A’s fans will be hoping Wilson can extend his season-opening hitting streak to 12 games.

That lineup will be facing off against Padres co-ace Dylan Cease. The right-hander is entering his seventh big league season and he’s shown stretched of absolute dominance in the past. He’s placed in the top-4 among Cy Young voting in two of the past three seasons, displaying impressive strikeout totals while being a workhorse on the mound. That said, those two Cy Young worthy campaigns were also sandwiched around a season where he sported an ugly 4.58 ERA, his first season in San Diego. So far this year he’s off to a so-so start, though he is coming off a strong outing last time out against the Cleveland Guardians. Tonight should be a tough test for both Cease and the Athletics bats that go up against him.

San Diego’s lineup stacks up like this against left-handed Springs:

Let’s go A’s! It’s time to break this losing streak with our first win at our temporary new home.