Great Scott? Although Rays starter Scott Kazmir has been struggling, the A's could make him better as he is 2-0, 0.64 against them this season and 6-1, 2.63 in his career.
Gee, Gio: A's starter Gio Gonzalez, acquired from the White Sox in January, makes his second start after being called up last week from Triple A and losing 5-1 to Toronto.
Not right: The Rays have had problems with all lefty starters, posting a 20-16 record compared to 51-30 vs. righties. But they will have Rocco Baldelli back in the lineup.
On deck
Wednesday: at A's, 10:07, FSN. Rays — RHP Andy Sonnanstine (11-6, 4.40); A's — RHP Justin Duchscherer (10-7, 2.51)
Thursday: at A's, 3:37, FSN. Rays — RHP James Shields (10-7, 3.65); A's — RHP Sean Gallagher (1-1, 4.26)
Friday: at Rangers, 8:05, FSN. Rays — RHP Matt Garza (9-7, 3.88); Rangers — LHP Matt Harrison (4-2, 7.07)
Up next
A's
Tonight-Thursday
What's new: The A's are abysmal, having lost 12 of their past 13, 21 of 24 and 29 of 38 to drop totally out of the AL West and wild-card races. Their offense remains anemic, despite the return of Frank Thomas, the starting pitching has struggled immensely since the trades of Rich Harden and Joe Blanton, and closer Huston Street was so bad he lost his job to rookie Brad Ziegler.
Key stat: Ziegler has thrown 37 innings without allowing a run, the second-longest streak ever by a reliever. (Cleveland's Al Benton had 39 in 1949 but allowed runs as a starter during that stretch.)
Connections: New Rays reliever Chad Bradford, 1B Carlos Pena and coaches Steve Henderson and George Hendrick are ex-A's.
Series history: Rays lead 4-2 this season and are 13-12 under Joe Maddon. The A's lead 65-35 overall and 36-12 in Oakland.
Marc Topkin, Times staff writer
Quote of the day
"We needed to bash that, just annihilate that so we don't have to think about that anymore. That's all you heard the past three years was 70 and beyond."
LHP Scott Kazmir, on breaking the team record of 70 wins
Magic number
41
Number of Tampa Bay wins and Boston losses for Rays to win AL East.
Numbers of the day
63-40 Rays record with Carl Crawford in leftfield
8-6 Rays record without Crawford in leftfield
[Last modified: Aug 12, 2008 06:23 PM]
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