Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, winners of four straight and owners of a season record of 9-10, will have their work cut out for them this weekend when they host the rampaging Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have the best record in baseball 15-2. They have won six straight and 15 of the last 16. They are playing the Los Angeles Angels Thursday night and will arrive in Oakland after the game. The Red Sox beat Angels’ pitcher Shohei Ohtani Tuesday night in Anaheim. Ohtani beat the A’s twice in the two games and was dominant.

The A’s are playing better. The hitting is starting to come around as they are second in the league with home runs hit. Jed Lowrie, who came up with the Red Sox, leads the club with six homers and the league with 21 RBIs. Khris Davis and Matt Chapman have also hit five home runs to pace the A’s attack. Matt Joyce, Marcus Semien, Matt Olson, Chad Pinder, and Mark Canha have also provided punch to the A’s offense. The A’s, however, are ranked just 22nd in the Power Rankings. Number one honor goes to the Red Sox. The Red Sox have scored 108 runs this year, and the pitching has allowed just 48 for a plus-60 ranking. The A’s have produced 104 runs, but the pitching has given up 99 for a plus-five margin.

The A’s will be facing three left-handed hurlers this weekend. On Friday, Boston will send Drew Pomeranz to the mound. Pomeranz will be making his season debut on Friday. Pomeranz, a former Oakland Athletic, won 17 games last year for Boston. He will be opposed by Kendall Graveman. Graveman will be making his fifth start of the year, and things have not gone well for him so far. Graveman’s ERA is 9.87 and has given up six home runs so far. He did not make it past the fourth inning in his last start nor has he made it past the fifth inning in any game this season. The A’s need him to regain the promise he showed two years ago, but he has a tough task facing him as he tries to shut down the Boston offense. The game on Saturday will feature two lefthanders at the top of their game. The A’s Sean Manaea ( 2-2, ERA 1.63) has been superb for Oakland. He could be 4-0 if he had some run support in the two games he lost. He has pitched past the seventh inning in all four games that he started. He will be opposed by the ace of the Boston staff, Chris Sale. Sale( 1-0, ERA 1.23) has been outstanding and will be a contender for the Cy Young award again. On Sunday, Daniel Mengden will go for Oakland. Mengden is 2-2 with an ERA of 4.50, but he pitched 8 plus innings last Monday against the White Sox and gave up just one run and six hits. The Red Sox will counter will send former Cy Young winner David Price to the hill. Price is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.25.

The Red Sox have a formidable lineup. They won the AL East last year with a record of 93-69. They were last in home runs in the Al but this year they added a tremendous power hitter, J.D.Martinez, and so far the early results are good as the Red Sox have been sensational. They are led by Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Junior, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, Mitch Moreland, Hanley Ramirez, Eduardo Nunez, Brock Holt. Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts are on the DL and will not play this weekend.

Hopefully, the stands will be full of fans to see the teams play. The A’s have talent on the field. They can hit. The pitching, however, is suspect. If the A’s hope to move up in the AL West standings, the will need more consistency from their starter. Manaea has done his job. Mengden pitched will his last time out, and Trevor Cahill looked sharp as he defeated the White Sox. Andrew Triggs had two good starts, but he was pounded by the White Sox Wednesday and did not last past the second inning. The A’s will have to be at their best this weekend as the Red Sox are blistering hot right now. Let’s see if the A’s can rise to the occasion.