Here we go again. The series against the league-worst Rockies continues tonight in the second of three weekend contests. The A’s came out on top last night but only thanks to a late two-run rally. They were close to blowing it last night so let’s hope for a more dominant performance tonight at Las Vegas Ballpark. A win tonight and the A’s are back at the .500 mark and coupled with the Mariners’ and Rangers’ earlier losses the team can make up some ground in the standings if they handle business. Plus, a possible four-game winning streak on the line. Plenty of motivation for a big performance in front of the future home fans.
Getting the start tonight for the A’s will be right-hander Joey Estes, who will be making his first start for the big league team since April 4th… of last year. It’s been a tough year-plus for the former top prospect. After showing potential in 24 starts as a rookie in 2024 the hope was the team had found a viable backend type of pitcher to help solidify things. Instead he regressed hard in his sophomore season, so much so that he was quickly optioned at the start of the season and remained in Triple-A for almost the rest of the year (outside of one relief appearance for the A’s at the end of August).
This season hasn’t gone much better for him in terms of run prevention down with the Aviators. In 12 starts he has a 5.95 ERA, allowing 39 runs in 59 innings of work. He’s seen his strikeout rate drop while walks have become a much bigger problem this year. With Aaron Civale returning soon this is likely just a spot start but who knows? Maybe a big outing puts him back on the team’s radar if and when they need to dip back into their pitching depth.
Now onto the starting lineup. Here’s how manager Mark Kotsay decided to order things up this evening looking for the team’s fourth straight win:
Shea Langeliers and Colby Thomas will swap spots with Thomas now leading off and “Bangeliers” in the three hole. Backup catcher Jonah Heim draws the second straight start as the DH and he’ll be batting cleanup. And why not ride the hot hand? He’s batting .389 with four home runs over his last seven games.
Jacob Wilson bats fifth and is back at shortstop for the second straight day since being activated off the IL. Rookie Henry Bolte is behind him in center. Kotsay will mix things up a bit more from here as Zack Gelof will grab his outfielder’s glove. Tyler Soderstrom is getting the night off against a left-handed starter on the opposing mound so Thomas will slide to left with Gelof opposite him in right field. Gelof will also be looking to extend his hitting streak to 17 games so hopefully going back to the grass doesn’t screw him up in the batter’s box. And Alika Williams will handle second base duties tonight, batting ninth.
Those bats will be facing veteran Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, shockingly already in his 10th big league season. Now 33, Freeland is having his worst season to date, which is saying something. In 11 starts the left-hander is sporting a bloated 7.81 ERA, with that mark over 10(!) in his last seven. He’s seemingly nearing the end of the line but he’ll try to tame the A’s bats. A tall task, especially in the band box that is Las Vegas Ballpark.
And the Rockies’ lineup for game two looks like this:
Lots of the same characters from last night but with some expected changes facing a different handed pitcher. Estes has good numbers against the three batters he has faced before (Goodman, Castro, and Julien). Who will that favor in this one?
Can the A’s make it four wins in a row? All signs point to yes. Take tonight’s game and we can secure the sweep tomorrow in the finale and climb up the standings a bit. Let’s go A’s!
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Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA
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Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast
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