Oakland @ Cleveland preview
Progressive Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 24, 2010 ) Oakland 5, Cleveland 0
There was a time, not long ago, when the Oakland Athletics had a marvelous rotation led by veterans Ben Sheets and Justin Duchscherer.
Both former All-Stars are now injured veterans, leaving the average age of the new-look rotation at 23.6 years old. That makes it rather remarkable that Oakland’s starting staff entered this 10-game road leading the American League with a 3.40 ERA.
Gio Gonzalez only improved that with seven shutout innings against the Cleveland Indians in Tuesday’s first game of the long trip. Now new ace Trevor Cahill gets his turn on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Cahill has won four of his last five starts while recording a 0.90 ERA.
Fearing the rotation might be too young and inexperienced, the A’s signed Sheets during the offseason. He won just four games, though, and his season ended in late July with him facing more elbow surgery.
Duchscherer missed all of last season and most of this one. He won twice before his season ended again in April with left hip surgery, leaving Cahill to lead a rotation young on experience but high on promise.
Cahill hasn’t pitched less than seven innings since July 17. He has pitched at least eight innings in four of his last five starts.
None of that bodes well for the Indians, who have been baffled by Oakland pitching most of the season. Cleveland, losers of four straight, has scored 12 runs in seven games against the Athletics this season.
The Indians, who have been shut out four times by A’s pitching, have scored just three runs and are batting .147 during their most recent losing streak.
The Athletics know all about offensive struggles. The team can’t seem to make up any ground on Texas in the AL West because of a lack of pop in the lineup. Despite the starters now pitching at least six innings in 22 consecutive games, Oakland is just 11-11 over that time because it is averaging 3.3 runs per game.
That changed Tuesday when Coco Crisp, Jeff Larish and Jack Cust homered in a 5-0 victory over the Indians. They’ll try to duplicate that today against Cleveland starter Mitch Talbot, who hasn’t won since June 27.
Talbot hasn’t even qualified for a victory in a month – the last time he pitched at least five innings was July 24. He is 0-4 in seven starts since the beginning of July with a 5.29 ERA.
Cahill has made only one previous appearance at Progressive Field and it didn’t go well. He allowed eight runs (five earned) and six hits in 3 2-3 innings last year.