The A’s are playing a rare Saturday night game, the second to last game before the sorely needed All Star Break. With Jharel Cotton on the disabled list, Chris Smith, not Josh Smith, is returning to the A’s to make a spot start. The 36 year old pitched a few handfuls of meaningless bullpen innings with a 2.92 ERA last season with no burden of expectations. This season, he has continued to pitch effectively as a starter in AAA, and his strong performances in the Athletics’ organization has earned him the first start of his major league career. His opponent, Andrew Moore, will be making just the third start of his major league career. Moore’s first two starts were both impressive, the rookie going at least seven innings and allowing three runs or fewer in each one.
The A’s and Mariners have split the first two games of the four game series.
Lineups are below. First pitch is at 7:10.
