Tonight, at 7:05 p.m. ET, the Oakland Athletics (71-55) and the Baltimore Orioles (68-58) square off in the first game of a three-game set at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The game can be live streamed here. Athletics fans can listen to the action at 95.7 FM The Game, while Orioles fans can do the same on 1090 WBAL.
The Athletics will turn to Dan Straily, who will take the hill for them while Bud Norris toes the rubber for Baltimore. Straily, in his second year, is 6-7 with a 4.20 ERA in 20 starts with 92 strikeouts. Norris, who Baltimore acquired from Houston at the trade deadline in July, is 9-10 in 2013 with a 3.93 ERA and 111 strikeouts. In five games with Baltimore, Norris is 3-1 with a 3.91 ERA and has fanned 21.
The weekend series will be held between two teams that are currently looking to end skids as each is pushing for a playoff spot. The A's are hoping to bounce back after dropping two of three against the Seattle Mariners earlier this week, while the Orioles have lost seven out of their last 11 games.
Entering Friday's game, the Athletics trail the American League West division-leading Texas Rangers by 2.5 games and hold the second wildcard spot by a margin of 2.5 games over the Cleveland Indians. The Orioles are hot on their heels, just three games out of that second wildcard spot and the team sits in third place in the AL East, 5.5 games behind the leading Boston Red Sox in the race for the division crown.
The Athletics have struggled to give Straily run support, and he's been win-less since July 9. The righty has received just three runs over his past six outings.
Straily struggled early in his latest start, but eventually turned it around and allowed just two runs through 5.2 innings.
"It wasn't exactly like I was keeping the ball down," Straily said after the game, according to MLB.com. "I felt like I had good stuff tonight. I just wasn't sure all the time where it was going. It looked a lot better, I feel like, than it probably was."
Norris, 28, bothered by a stiff back, still managed to win his last start, surrendering four runs in 5.2 innings.
"I started to feel it a little bit," Norris said of the back per MLB.com, "so I'm just going to take care of it, and it's not going to hamper me too much. I've got an extra day this week, which will be big. But you are going to have nagging stuff this time of year, and you're going to have to fight through it."
Seth Smith has been out of the Oakland lineup since last Saturday due to astigmatism in his eye and manager Bob Melvin doesn't know how long he's been dealing with it, but hopes to get him back in the lineup Friday as he made the trip to the east coast with the team. Smith, who only usually starts against righties, is hitting .241 on the season with six homers and 33 RBIs.
The player to watch for Baltimore is first baseman Chris Davis, who has a major-league leading 46 long-balls and is hitting .306 and trails only Detroit's Miguel Cabrera for the league-lead in RBIs with 116.
It'll be a match-up between two playoff hopefuls when the Athletics and Orioles clash at Camden Yards this weekend.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
