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GameThread: Orioles (1-8) @ Athletics (6-4)

Tonight David Hernandez will make his second start of the season and if he can perform as well as he did last Saturday the Orioles will have a chance to win (if they'll take advantage of that chance is anybody's guess). Hernandez's hometown is nearby Sacramento, CA so there may be a large Hernandez contingent in the stands tonight. Maybe we'll see a cute sign from his mommy, I always love those.

Hernandez has faced the A's twice in his career. On 6/6/09, Hernandez relieved Jason Berken after Berken gave up 9 runs in 3.1 innings. Hernandez was good that day, pitching 2.2 shut out innings with 4 strikeouts. On 8/11/09 Hernandez was the starting pitcher against the A's in Baltimore and pitched 6.2 innings with 6 strike outs and 1 walk. He allowed two solo home runs. That being said, Hernandez has only faced five current A's and none enough to put any stock in the numbers.

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Rajai Davis 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .500 .750
Kurt Suzuki 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000
Mark Ellis 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Cliff Pennington 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667
Ryan Sweeney 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Total 22 21 4 1 0 0 0 1 2 .190 .227 .238 .465

Opposing Hernandez is the A's big off-season acquisition, Ben Sheets. Sheets has been adequate in his two starts this season, allowing 3 runs in each while pitching 5 innings in his first start, 6 in his second. 4 strikeouts to 7 walks isn't a pretty ratio, but I'd imagine Sheets will continue to get stronger considering he didn't pitch at all in 2009.

Sheets has only pitched against the Orioles once, way back in 2003. In that one game, Sheets lost to the Rodrigo Lopez which leads me to conclude that he must be awful. A number of current Orioles have faced Sheets, however, when they all played together in the NL.

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Ty Wigginton 36 31 12 2 0 2 7 5 3 .387 .472 .645 1.117
Cesar Izturis 22 22 2 0 0 0 2 0 4 .091 .091 .091 .182
Luke Scott 16 14 2 1 1 0 2 2 8 .143 .250 .357 .607
Garrett Atkins 14 14 6 1 0 1 3 0 2 .429 .429 .714 1.143
Miguel Tejada 14 13 2 0 0 1 2 1 5 .154 .214 .385 .599
Felix Pie 7 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 .000 .143 .000 .143
Brian Roberts 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667
Julio Lugo 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Total 124 114 27 5 1 4 18 9 30 .237 .290 .404 .694

Thank goodness Wiggy is in the lineup tonight! I cannot say the same about Atkins, even in jest.

Orioles Athletics
Felix Pie - LF Rajai Davis - CF
Adam Jones - CF Daric Barton - 1B
Nick Markakis - RF Ryan Sweeney - RF
Miguel Tejada - 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B
Matt Wieters - C Kurt Suzuki - C
Luke Scott - DH Eric Chavez - DH
Ty Wigginton - 2B Adam Rosales - 2B
Garrett Atkins - 1B Travis Buck - LF
Cesar Izturis - SS Cliff Pennington - SS
David Hernandez - RHP Ben Sheets - RHP

Let's Go O's!