Photo credit: @Athletics photo: A’s players wearing their favorite football jerseys as they board the plane to Baltimore, Md.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s start a six-game road trip against the Baltimore Orioles starting Tuesday. One of the problems that these teams may have is the weather. The forecast is as follows: Tuesday (thunderstorms) along with Wednesday and Thursday (scattered thunderstorms; Hurricane Florence). Hopefully, they will be able to play.

If the games are played, the A’s will be facing a Baltimore Oriole team that has the worst record in the AL. O’s manager Buck Showalter probably will be gone after the season as the team will be in rebuild mode. They traded Manny Machado to the Dodgers. Machado will be a free agent at the end of the season, and he will be getting a contract that will take care of him and his family for years. Jonathan Schoop has been traded to the Brewers. Ace reliever, Zach Britton, is now a Yankee. Kevin Gausman is now in Atlanta. Former A’s players Danny Valencia and Craig Gentry did not produce and are currently unemployed. Chris Tillman, who was once the O’s best starter, had a dismal season and was released on July 25th.

The O’s own a 41-102 record and are languishing in the basement of the AL East. They still have Adam Jones, but not much else. Slugging first baseman Chris Davis (not to be confused with the A’s DH Khris Davis) is having a terrible year. His batting average is a .177 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs on his tally sheet. The rest of the players with the exceptions of catcher Caleb Joseph, second baseman Jonathan Villar, and outfielder Trey Mancini are either young players or fill-ins. The veteran, Mark Trumbo, who is the O’s DH, is out for the season following knee surgery.

The A’s are rolling and would love to sweep the O’s. They travel to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend. The weather won’t be a problem there as their games are played in a dome.

If the games are played in Baltimore, Mike Fiers will pitch Tuesday night. Fiers is 11-6 overall and 4-0 since coming to the A’s. His opponent will be Alex Cobb. Cobb got off to a terrible start with Baltimore after signing a free agent deal this year. Cobb has been pitching better in the second half. The A’s have not announced their starters for Wednesday and Thursday. Lefty Brett Anderson is due to come off the DL, and he may be available. A’s manager Bob Melvin might have to have two bullpen games if he can’t find a starter.

The A’s swept the three games from Baltimore when they played in Oakland on May 4th, 5th, and sixth. The A’s are just 2 1/2 games behind the AL West division-leading Houston Astros for first place and 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for the first Wild Card spot.

After the two series on the road, the A’s play three with Minnesota and three with the LA Angels. They finish the season on the road with three against the Seattle Mariners and the last three of the year with the Angels.