A’s vs. Yankees game thread
Final series in Oakland begins tonight
After a much-needed day off yesterday the Athletics welcome the Evil Empire to the Coliseum for the final time. Lot’s of postseason history between these two clubs and this series promises to be packed all weekend while New York is in town.
The A’s will turn to rookie right-hander JT Ginn for tonight’s contest to get the series started. Ginn, the last remaining piece of the Chris’s Bassitt trade, has made four starts for the big league club since being recalled last month. He’s been just okay during his starting assignments, but we have seen flashes of his strikeout stuff as he’s at 19 K’s during 20 innings as a starting pitcher. He’ll have the toughest assignment to date tonight against a postseason-bound Yankees squad but it’s going to be good experience that helps him next season.
Here is how the Green & Gold will line up for the first game of the series:
Friday night baseball ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/O5Tjdrfoq9
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) September 20, 2024
The fairly standard top half of the lineup is locked in. With New York sending a right-hander to the mound for tonight’s contest the club is putting a couple extra lefty bats in the starting nine. First base will be manned by Tyler Soderstrom while Seth Brown will be patrolling left field tonight. Star prospect Jacob Wilson is right behind Soderstrom in the lineup and rookie Max Schueman rounds out the order.
That lineup will be getting a hard test tonight as New York will send out reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole. The future Hall-of-Famer hasn’t lived up to his lofty standards this year, posting a rather average 3.97 ERA going into tonight’s contest. Perhaps it was the fact that he missed the first two months of the season with a concerning right elbow injury. He dodged a bullet by not needing Tommy John surgery but maybe that elbow still isn’t cooperating with him. Still, it’s Gerrit Cole. The A’s bats better be ready for a difficult task tonight.
How the Yankees will line up for tonight:
Friday Night at the Coliseum. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/wQV9Kqfxb2
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 20, 2024
A dangerous lineup up and down the order but a late scratch from the Yankees lineup sure will help Ginn’s goal of holding down New York:
Juan Soto scratched from Yankees lineup due to soreness and swelling, Aaron Boone said. X-rays were negative. No additional testing scheduled.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) September 20, 2024
That’ll help! Let’s go A’s! Start the final homestand strong!