The San Francisco Giants play host to their bay rivals, the Oakland Athletics, on Tuesday night from Oracle Park in the opener of a two-game series. The Giants come in sitting in third-place in the NL West, while the Athletics sit not only at the bottom of the AL West, but also have the worst record in Major League Baseball. This will be the first meeting between these two this season but after the Giants won three of four games last season, there's little doubt that they'll have their eyes on a similar style of dominance in this rematch.
The Athletics have made headlines for all of the wrong reasons this season, from their poor play on the field, to questionable decisions made by the front office. It shouldn't come as a surprise that they find themselves with the league's worst record and are already 32 games out of first-place, which is a staggering figure. There's no doubt that this season won't see them playing postseason baseball but they would love nothing more than to play the role of spoiler towards the journey of other teams, especially their local neighbors. With a 3-7 record over their last ten games, to go along with only 13 wins on the road this season, it might be asking too much of this group to spring the upset on Tuesday.
Ken Waldichuk will get the ball for the Athletics in this one, as they look towards their lefty to set the tone early in this series. With a 2-6 record and 6.75 ERA, his abili ty to eat up any innings will be welcomed by the road team. His 1.84 WHIP leaves quite a bit to be desired and after starting the season in the bullpen, has struggled since joining the rotation as well, against far worse offenses than what he'll be seeing in this one.
The offense for the Athletics may have to find a way to step up, especially given the issues on the mound for this team, though that might be asking too much as well. The Athletics are only averaging 3.6 runs per game, which is one of the worst marks in baseball. Add in a .218 team average and it quickly makes sense where the struggles are stemming from. Esteury Ruiz, the team's leading hitter, remains out with a shoulder injury, while Brent Rooker (16 home runs, 44 RBI) is questionable. Without two of their keys within the lineup, this offense could struggle even more than usual in this one.