Oakland will open a three-game series in Baltimore on Friday night. The Athletics were wrapping up their series in Washington on Thursday, while Baltimore was finishing a six-game road trip with a game at Cleveland. This story was published prior to both of those contests.
Oakland has been at the bottom of the MLB throughout the season, but it has still been able to generate some momentum at different times during the second half of the year. The Athletics won seven of their first nine games after the All-Star break, and they put together a three-game winning streak earlier this week, with two of those wins coming against the Yankees. Oakland split the first two games of its series with Washington, and it was wrapping up that series on Thursday afternoon. The Athletics have the worst record in the American League and the second-worst record in the majors this season, sitting only ahead of Washington.
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— Oakland A's (@Athletics) September 1, 2022
The Athletics are in dead last in the MLB in batting average, hitting at a .215 clip. Catcher Sean Murphy leads the team with 111 hits, while second baseman Tony Kemp has 90 base knocks. They are facing a Baltimore pitching staff that is No. 13 with an ERA of 3.82. Left-handed pitcher JP Sears is going to make the start for Oakland on Friday. He allowed three runs on eight hits and four walks while striking out three batters across six innings against the Yankees his last time out. Sears was able to record the first quality start of his big-league career, but he also allowed a season-high three runs. He brings a 2.28 ERA and 1.11 WHIP into this start, which will be his seventh of the year.