Oakland A’s starter Jesus Luzardo throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of Tue Apr 13, 2021 game at Chase Field in Phoenix (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

The Oakland Athletics have the day off on Wednesday, following a successful two-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in an interleague series in Phoenix.

Starting Thursday, the A’s begin a seven-game homestand at the Coliseum, hosting the Detroit Tigers (April 15-18) and the Minnesota Twins (April 19-21).

In the Tigers series, Oakland will start Sean Manaea (0-1, 5.06) on Thursday, followed by Frankie Montas (1-1, 8,31), Cole Irvin (0-2, 7.45) and Chris Bassitt (1-2, 4.96).

After a rough start, Oakland has improved to 5-7 overall, trailing the Los Angeles Angels by two games in the American League West. Their overall numbers – 27th in MLB in team batting average (.211), 16th in runs (48), 30th in team ERA (6.00), and 29th in WHIP (1.56).

On the injured list, the A’s have five on the 10-day list – LHP Reymin Guduan (sprained left thumb), LHP A.J. Puk (strained left biceps), INF-OF Chad Pinder (sprained left knee), RHP Burch Smith (strained right groin), and RHP Mike Fiers (lumbar strain).

On Thursday, the Athletics will join other MLB teams in honoring Jackie Robinson Day by having all players wear No. 42. The A’s, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, will give away co-branded masks to early arriving fans on Saturday and Sunday. Game time for the weekend games is 1:07 p.m