Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s host a two-game series with the Dodgers starting Tuesday night at the Coliseum. The teams met earlier in the season as they split a pair in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 10th and 11th.

The defending National League champion Dodgers are currently in a tie for first place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Colorado Rockies are two games back, and the San Francisco Giants are in fourth place.
The Dodgers acquired two players in July that they hope will propel the team to another NL West division crown. They made a trade with the Baltimore Orioles to get All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who will be a free agent at the end of the year, and it appears that he will be nothing more than a two-month rental. Machado will be at shortstop for LA as Corey Seager is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery. The other key player is Brian Dozier, who is another former All-Star who still has a lot of pop in his bat.

Both games between the two clubs will feature battles of left-handed pitchers. Tuesday night, the Dodgers will send Rich Hill out to do the pitching. Hill, who was with the A’s in 2016, went to the Dodgers along with Josh Reddick for Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas, has a 4-4 record and a 3.63 ERA. Hill is on a roll as he has allowed only two earned runs in his last 20 innings of work. Anyways, the A’s will have their ace, Sean Manaea, toeing the rubber. Manaea has a 10-7 record, and he beat the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday, allowing just one run and five hits. On Wednesday, the three-time NL Cy Young award winner, Clayton Kershaw, will go for LA. Kershaw has a 5-5 record and has a 2.55 ERA. Kershaw has spent some time on the DL with back problems this year. The A’s will counter with Brett Anderson. Anderson has a 2-3 record and a 4.64 ERA. Anderson beat the Detroit Tigers last Friday, and he gave the A’s seven strong innings of work. The Dodgers’ closer was Kenley Jansen.

The Dodgers have a lot of power in their lineup. In addition to Machado and Dozier in the infield, Cody Bellinger will be playing first. Bellinger, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, is hitting .241 with 18 dingers and 50 RBI’s. Third base will be manned by Justin Turner. Turner spent a lot of the season on the DL. Nonetheless, Turner’s batting average is .259 and he has six homers and 22 RBIs. In case the Dodgers need someone to fill in on the infield, they can use Max Muncy or Chris Taylor. Muncy, a former Athletic, has found a home in LA. His average is .259, and he has crushed 24 home runs and knocked in 49. Taylor has 12 dingers and 50 ribbies to go along with a 2.55 batting average.

All four of the Dodger outfielders are in double-digits in the home run department. Kike Hernandez, Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson all have hit 17 homers this year. Yasiel Puig has 14. Catching will be handled by Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes.

The A’s, winners of their last six games, are currently in second place in the AL West. They trail the first-place Houston Astros by just four games. In the race for the first Wild Card slot, they find themselves 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees. The first Wild Card team hosts the one-game playoff. The A’s, with a record of 67-46, have the fourth best record in baseball. Their win-loss record is better than any team in the National League. The A’ are 33-10 in their 43 games.

The A’s improved the bullpen with the acquisition of Shawn Kelly, and on Monday, they announced that the had made a trade with the Tigers for Mike Fiers. Fiers has a 7-6 record with a 3.48 ERA in 21 starts this year.

It should be a good series, and hopefully, the fans will pack the ballpark. There will be two contending teams with a lot on the line.