The Oakland Athletics (5-19) will be going for the series win when they face the Los Angeles Angels (12-12) in the final game of their four-game series on Thursday afternoon.
JP Sears, 0-1, 4.98 ERA, will get the start for the Athletics. The Angels will counter with Shohei Ohtani, 3-0, 0.64 ERA.
Los Angeles and Oakland split their last 10 meetings.
**This preview was written before Wednesday’s game was played**
The Athletics followed up their series-opening win with a loss in the second game. They will try to bounce back with a win on Thursday, which will give them their second win in their last three games.
Oakland is averaging 3.71 runs per game. Their .227 batting average is 25th in the league. Their .306 on base percentage is 22nd, while their .372 slugging percentage is 24th.
Esteury Ruiz leads the Athletics with a .256 batting average, while Brent Rooker leads the team with six home runs and 14 RBI.
Oakland’s pitching is one of the worst in the league, with the team giving up 8.04 runs per game. Opponents have a .291 batting average against the Athletics, which is 30th in the league. Their 7.89 ERA is also last in the league, as is their 1.74 WHIP.
In his last start, Sears gave up f ive hits and four runs in six innings, but they were able to get a 5-4 win over Texas. They will need a better performance from him if they want to win this game.