What a wild weekend. We saw New York go crazy as the Knicks won the title for the first time in 53 years. We saw Carolina finalize what has been a dominant NHL season. The World Cup had some action begin (with us going 2-1 on it). And, we had some guys maul each other on the White House lawn. We also saw some wildness on the diamond with one of the teams in this game as well.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are .500 and I have to say this is at least a step forward, but won’t be enough if they plan to make this team what it could be. They have arguably the best two young assets in the game on their roster. It is possible that it will just take some time for them to figure things out, and learn to win.
However, that doesn’t mean their stars will be on the same timeline. I think they have to show their players they are serious about making the postseason this year, and make some moves to add a bat and an arm to the lineup.
In fairness, their hitting hasn’t been too much of an issue; they are batting .252. Their pitching needs to step up. Guys like today’s starter, Jared Jones, just aren’t people to rely on in a playoff race. Not that Jones isn’t good, or can’t be, he actually has some good stuff, but his 4.73 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP are fairly in line with where I expect him to be all season. He has only faced one Athletics hitter in his career and held them hitless in two at-bats.
The Athletics tested out their eventual home this past weekend. They played in Las Vegas and it was… interesting to say the least. Yesterday alone the Colorado Rockies, a team known for allowing runs instead of scoring them, put up 23 runs on the Athletics. The first game in Las Vegas, which was played at the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate stadium, saw 29 runs between the two teams as the Brewers won 15-14 in 12 innings. The good news is that despite all the runs, the Athletics still went 4-2 in those games.
Their bullpen is probably fairly tired for today’s game, though. They used four relievers yesterday, which isn’t terrible, but does mean potentially limited options. That means they need JT Ginn, the starter for today, to deliver a strong performance. He is 4-3 for the season with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, so he has a good chance to give them what they need. In 15 starts this season, he has only allowed three or more earned runs in a game three times. Pirates hitters haven’t seen much of him either as they are 2-for-5 against him.
This should be a fairly interesting game, but I think Ginn is clearly the more reliable starter. The total on this game is at 10.5, which, to me, is wild. This game isn’t in Las Vegas, this is in Sacramento, so the thin air that carried the ball out of the park the past few days is not a factor.
I’ll play the under in the game because I just don’t see the teams getting to 11 runs. However, I also like the Athletics here. I’m not overly confident in either bet, so I’ll just split a unit on the plays rather than risk one on both. However, I do think the Athletics win this game 4-2 or something of that nature.
