Cincinnati @ Oakland preview
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Mar 31, 2010 ) Cincinnati 8, Oakland 3
If the Oakland Athletics are looking for a reprieve from their grueling recent schedule, they won't get it. On the bright side, at least they’re going home.
The Athletics kick off a six-game homestand when they host the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a three-game series on Monday.
Oakland began the month with a one-game lead in the AL West and the momentum that came with winning eight of 10 games. But a brutal stretch followed as the A’s hit the road to face the playoff contending Boston Red Sox and then returned home They held their ground for the most part in that stretch, struggling to a 4-6 mark, but then interleague play returned and the wheels fell off. Oakland went across the bay and dropped three straight to the San Francisco Giants before dropping two of three at both the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
What was once a first-place team with a one-game lead in the division is now a third-place team looking up at an eight-game deficit.
The A’s did pick up a win on Sunday, snapping a four-game slide with a 3-2 win at St. Louis. Kevin Kouzmanoff went 4-for-4 with a homer in the victory.
But another playoff contender is on the horizon in the Reds, who still lead the NL in most offensive categories but have been doing a bit of reeling themselves of late. Cincinnati managed just one run in the entire series while being swept by the lowly Seattle Mariners over the weekend.
Losers of six of their last seven, the Reds have scored a total of six runs in the losses. The top two hitters in the lineup – Orlando Cabrera and Brandon Phillips – have combined for seven hits in the last seven games.
Fresh off his first career loss, Cincinnati will send rookie Mike Leake to the mound on Monday. The 22-year-old right-hander put together four straight starts of one earned run or less from May 20-June 5 but has collapsed of late, allowing 10 runs and 20 hits in 10 1/3 innings over his last two starts.
After allowing more than three earned runs in just one of his first 11 starts, Leake has gotten victimized for five each in his last two.
After escaping with a no decision on June 10 against San Francisco, Leake was not so lucky last Wednesday against the Dodgers. The offense failed to bail him out in a 6-2 loss, handing him his first defeat.
Oakland will counter with left-hander Gio Gonzalez. The 24-year-old has had some trouble of his own over his last two starts, allowing 10 runs in 10 1/3 combined innings. Unlike Leake, Gonzalez suffered the loss in both contests and saw his record fall to 6-5.
Walks have been a problem all season for Gonzalez, who has issued 39 free passes in 83 1/3 innings.