Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas will start against the Kansas City Royals Tue Sep 14, 2021 at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City for game 1 of the three game series. (file photo San Francisco Chronicle)

A’s Down To The Wire In Their Next series

By Barbara Mason

It’s been a long baseball season but it has seemed especially long for the Oakland A’s. They have had more ups and downs than a boardwalk roller coaster. If it’s not the starting pitchers, it’s the at bats or some crazy defensive play and for awhile now it has been the bullpen with a capital B.

There are six more series left in the season. Oakland will be facing the Kansas Royals, the Los Angeles Angels, the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves and take a look at what is next up for the A’s

Tuesday night they will be taking on the Kansas City Royals in a three game series. The Royals are not a factor in the playoff picture but would like nothing more than to play spoiler. That’s just what teams do when there is no post season in their future.

On Tuesday the A’s probable starting pitcher will be Frankie Montas who with an 3.57 ERA and has been very good on the mound. Montas has had some of his best stuff lately and has been impressive. If he can go deep and into the game, even as far as eight innings there will be less pressure on the bullpen.

It’s no secret that the Oakland bullpen has been less than stellar for while for now so taking pressure off them to perform is a good thing. It’s a shame that it has come down to this but its is what it is.

For the Kansas City Royals they will more than likely send Jackson Kowar to the mound with a 9.53 ERA. The A’s will need the bats to come alive early in the game coupled with their usual solid defensive play. They should have a lot of success in this series. The A’s will need some cooperation from the bullpen and that’s a given.

The bottom line is that this team has the tools to make a run this year. Tuesday night will hopefully begin the journey on that run.