Oakland A’s starter JP Sears gets the call on Tue Sep 20, 2022 at the Oakland Coliseum to open the first of a three game series against the Seattle Mariners. Here is Sears pitching against the New York Yankees on Fri Aug 26, 2022 (AP News file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s have 15 games left on the 2022 schedule. For Oakland, it has been a long and difficult year. The A’s will probably finish with their worst record since 1979 when they finished 54-108. The A’s are currently 53-94. They have lost seven of the last ten and have to play two teams that will probably make the playoffs.

The A’s last fifteen games include six with the Seattle Mariners, three with the New York Mets, and six with the Los Angeles Angels. They play the first six at home against the Mariners and Mets, then go on the road to Anaheim and Seattle. They will play the Angels in Oakland for the last three games.

Let’s take a look at the series with the Mariners. Seattle will be the third Wild Card team. They lead the Baltimore Orioles by four games in the race for that slot. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are in the first and second slots.

The Mariners will be looking to get some wins over the A’s. Seattle owns an 8-5 advantage over Oakland so far. The A’s would love to play spoiler. A’s manager Mark Kotsay will make sure his team will play hard in the series.

The players want to finish the season with a good run. It will not be easy, as Seattle has good starting pitching and an excellent bullpen. Seattle, however, is scuffling. The M’s are 4-6 in their last ten games. Teams want to finish the season with momentum on their side. The Atlanta Braves got hot near the end of the 2021 season, and that momentum carried them to a World Series crown.

The pitching matchups for the three-game series will see the A’s have lefty J.P.Sears on the mound. Sears is 5-2, with a 3.90 ERA. Sears has had a few rough outings lately, but he wants to show the A’s that he will be in their plans for 2023.

Seattle will counter with righty Luis Castillo. The M’s traded for Castillo at the trade deadline. In his time with Seattle, he is 3-1 and has an ERA of 2.37. James Kaprielian goes for the A’s on Wednesday, and Seattle will send lefty Robby Ray out to pitch. On Thursday’s day game, Adrian Martinez will be on the hill for Oakland. George Kirby will handle the pitching chores for Seattle.

The Mariners have owned the A’s the last two seasons. They have a lineup with several players that can cause damage. The M’s rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez is a candidate for Rookie of the year. Rodriguez is hitting .279 with 27 home runs and 73 RBIs. Other power hitters in the M’s lineup include Mitch Haniger, Ty France, Jesse Winker, Carlos Santana, J.P. Crawford, and catcher Cal Raleigh.

The M’s have one lefty in their bullpen, Matthew Boyd. All the other relievers are right-handed. The A’s will see these players come out of the bullpen: Chris Flexen, Matt Brash, Andres Munoz, Diego Castillo, Erik Swanson, and Penn Murfee.

The Mariners cannot afford to lose. The A’s have nothing to lose. It should be a very interesting series.