By #1 Sports
Oakland: The Athletics (43-46, 17-26 road) open the second half 7 ½ games behind the Rangers in the West and send LHP Gio Gonzalez (7-6, 3.79 ERA) to the hill tonight. The 3rd-year starter had fine stretches in the 1st-half with just 95 hits allowed over 107 innings but racked only a single victory over his final 6 trips as the walks (21 BB over his last 34 innings) began to pile up.
Manager Bob Geren’s veterans have made little offensive impact, stranding this crew at 4.15 runs per game with just 57 homers through 89 games, but Oakland’s reputation for grooming young talent remains with 1B Daric Barton (.272, 5 HR, 32 RBI), CF Rajai Davis (.268, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 27/32 SB), SS Cliff Pennington (.264, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 13/15 SB), C Kurt Suzuki (.252, 10 HR, 37 RBI) and utility man Adam Rosales (.276, 6 HR, 27 RBI) all on the front end of fine careers.
Kansas City: The Royals (39-49, 18-21 home) have boosted their offense this season to a respectable 4.38 runs per game by raising their team batting average a full 23 points to .282 from 2009. Outfielders Podsednik (.301, 3 HR, 35 RBI, 25/36 SB), Guillen (.279, 15 HR, 54 RBI), and DeJesus (.326, 5 HR, 36 RBI) plus 1B Billy Butler (.322, 9 HR, 46 RBI) have all had big 1st halves while the situation at third is getting very interesting. Alberto Callapso (.274, 8 HR, 41 RBI) and Wilson Betemit (.389, 4 HR, 10 RBI) have been superb but must be hearing the footsteps of 2007’s 2nd-overall draft selection Mike Moustakas who was recently promoted to AAA-Omaha after leading the Texas League in batting average (.347), homers (21), and RBI (76) in the first half. RHP Zach Greinke’s (5-8, 3.71 ERA) shoulder seems fine and is 4-0 career versus Oakland with a 2.88 ERA.
FREE SELECTION: Throw in 2-time All Star plus 2009 AL Rookie of the Year Andrew Bailey (18/21 saves, 1.70 ERA) and the Athletics have a ton of young talent but the Royals offense is clearly better overall, Ned Yost’s crew has been hotter, and Greinke has simply dominated the A’s. Take Kansas City – 145 and be sure to pick up your Free Daily Selections at Freeplays.com
- The Champs at #1 Sports