Oakland @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 15, 2010 ) Oakland 9, Chi. Cubs 5
The Oakland Athletics look to start a modest road win streak while the Chicago Cubs try to put another bad loss behind them when the teams resume their interleague series on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
The A's posted a 9-5 victory on Tuesday, their first win on their current nine-game road trip. Oakland started the trek by getting swept at San Francisco and needs to take care of business against a struggling Chicago squad before the trip ends with three games at St. Louis, which is tied for first in the National League Central.
Oakland is 12-20 away from home and only bottom feeders Seattle and Baltimore have fewer road wins among American League teams. So the A's will take road wins any way they can get them, and they got lots of help in the series opener.
Chicago first baseman Derrek Lee, a former Gold Glove winner, committed a pair of errors in the fourth inning Tuesday, helping Oakland to four runs in the frame. The Cubs committed four errors as a team and only five of the nine runs allowed by Cubs pitchers were earned.
Ryan Dempster (4-5, 3.74 ERA) gets the start for Chicago and will be hoping for a little better defense behind him than Cubs pitchers got Tuesday. Dempster is 2-3 in six home starts with a respectable 3.74 ERA, but it is always something with this Cubs team.
On Tuesday, errors did them in. For Dempster, it has more often than not been lousy run support from an underachieving lineup.
The Cubs are 4-9 in Dempster's 13 starts this season and have scored three runs or less in eight of them. In his last outing, Dempster allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings and took the loss in a 5-4 setback at Milwaukee on Thursday.
Gio Gonzalez (6-4, 3.79) gets the start for Oakland.
Gonzalez is 2-2 in seven road starts this season and had won three straight decisions before suffering a 6-2 loss at San Francisco on Friday in which he allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Oakland had a busy transaction day Tuesday with some moves they hope will translate into some run production.
The A's reinstated catcher Kurt Suzuki from the bereavement list and optioned outfielder Matt Carson to Triple-A Sacramento. Oakland also acquired outfielder Conor Jackson from Arizona for minor league closer Sam Demel.