Oakland A's probable pitchers and starting lineups vs St. Louis Cardinals, April 17
By Tim Smart
Paul Blackburn and the Oakland Athletics will look to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals as the two teams get set to face off this afternoon. The Cardinals have taken the last two games, winning 3-1 on Monday and 3-2 on Tuesday.
With the two losses, the A's have fallen to 7-11 on the year and currently sit in 4th place in the AL West. JD Davis has been placed on the IL and Esteury Ruiz has been called up to Oakland to fill his spot. Ruiz hit a homer in his lone plate appearance on Monday, and struck out in his pinch hit appearance on Tuesday.
A's manager Mark Kotsay has chosen to play the platoon matchups instead of getting Ruiz into games. McCann notched a homer last night and Seth Brown notched 2 hits on the night but the A's lost anyway. With any luck, Kotsay will focus on prioritizing the players who could have a future in this organization over trying to win games in what is almost certainly a lost season already.
Probable starting pitchers
- Paul Blackburn will take the mound tonight with a 19.1 inning scoreless streak intact. He's 1-0 on the year with a 0.00 ERA and a 2.57 FIP, notching 11 strikeouts to just 3 walks. The Cardinals offense should prove to be a difficult opponent tonight and it'll take some luck to extend the scoreless streak too much further. The franchise record is 23 scoreless innings, set by Harry Krouse back in 1910.
- Steven Matz gets the nod tonight for the Cardinals. Through 15 innings across 3 starts, he's 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and just 8 strikeouts to 3 walks. His 4.80 K/9 is 9th lowest among all starting pitchers this year, not including openers. He'll look to improve on those numbers against an A's offense that ranks 29th in the league in runs scored and is tied for 28th in batter strikeouts.
Oakland A's starting lineup, April 17
- Esteury Ruiz, CF
- Tyler Nevin, RF
- Zack Gelof, 2B
- Shea Langeliers, C
- Abraham Toro, DH
- Darell Hernaiz, 3B
- Ryan Noda, 1B
- Nick Allen, SS
- Max Schuemann, LF
St. Louis Cardinals starting lineup, April 17
- Brendan Donovan, LF
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Lars Nootbar, RF
- Nolan Arenado, 3B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Nolan Gorman, 2B
- Ivan Herrera, DH
- Masyn Winn, SS
- Michael Siani, CF
What channel is the Oakland A's game on today?
- Game time: 12:37 pm PDT
- Oakland fans can watch on NBCSCA
- Cardinals fans can watch on Bally Sports Midwest
How can I stream the Oakland A's game today?
- NBC Sports Bay Area Live
- MLB.tv (subscription required)
- Fubo TV (subscription required, free trial available)
How can I listen to the Oakland A's game today?
- The Athletics broadcast will be available on A's Cast, KIQI 1010, and Bloomberg 960AM/103.7 HD2
- The Cardinals broadcast will be on KMOX 1120AM / 98.7FM, and the Cardinals Radio Network