Sonny Gray is Pitching for the A's Thursday

[No coincidences]

Awful might be understatement but he did have one of the biggest hits in series game 4

Agree. That was good to see.

Still isn't a true leadoff hitter though.

[KiDBaZkiT]

Tigers struggling to hit period. Gray has nasty stuff.

Not disagreeing about the hitting, scoring if I'm not mistaken is dead even through 4 games?? Cabrera isn't 100% and its having its affects but outside of game 3 A's haven't been scoring a ton game 1 shutout, game 2 1 run, dropped 6 in game 3 and what 4 the other night after a lead off triple? Verlander after the first couple innings was nasty Saturday night. A's still believe they got hosed by your uncle interfering with that ball.

[Ghenghis Kahn]

good for the detroit backers. price got cheaper by 10 cents.

[whtsox13]

Nobody, JV goes 12 innings and 140 pitches if he has too.
It's his game

That's been part his slide this season, pitch count. Usually pushing 100 in the 6th/7th won't get you to the closer for a win or a complete game.

[rcene]

Have to back Verlander. He owns the A's and pressure will be all on the A's and Gray in the elimination game

[Louisvillekid1]

Have to back Verlander. He owns the A's and pressure will be all on the A's and Gray in the elimination game

really?

[InTheDrink]

bold move by melvin sending a message that gray is his guey way beyond this game

if he pitches well he becomes the de facto ace of the staff moving forward

[Deuce]

Not disagreeing about the hitting, scoring if I'm not mistaken is dead even through 4 games?? Cabrera isn't 100% and its having its affects but outside of game 3 A's haven't been scoring a ton game 1 shutout, game 2 1 run, dropped 6 in game 3 and what 4 the other night after a lead off triple? Verlander after the first couple innings was nasty Saturday night. A's still believe they got hosed by your uncle interfering with that ball.

A's can say that all they want. Uncle Teddy was at the fence and Reddick had zero chance. Every expert agrees that was in fact a HR.

[rcene]

really?

Home game. Rookie pitcher. Facing a 60% Cabrera in an elimination game. A's have to win that game, otherwise they will be chokers

[BeatingBaseball]

And you'll never see me saying Melvin is smart.

NoCoin - One guy who is smart, however, is Curt Young. He's one of the game's most respected men re pitching, excellent in every aspect of not only developing young pitchers but managing a staff. He's been the best kept secret of the A's great pitching success for the last 15yrs (absent only the short trip to Boston). You can be sure it was he who drove this decision. My take - the Tigers are a great FB hitting team and Colon throws 80-85% FBs. He may be 40 yrs old and doesn't throw as hard as he once did - but he still lives on it - if it's not the FB it's the hard SL piece - few Changes and no Curves at all. The Detroit L/U is very comfortable up there when they can look hard all the time. Every pitch that beat Straily & co. in gm 4 was a FB (only wish Straily didn't try to go after Peralta with the 2-2 FB bottom 5 - turned my big 5 inning bet into a push). The way to go after the Tigers is to show to them the FB out of the zone/off the plate and go after them for strikes more with the breaking and off speed stuff. Not saying Sonny G is does not throw as hard or harder than Colon - but he mixes it up a lot more - throws about 65% pure heaters. GL on your post season plays.

[rcene]

bold move by melvin sending a message that gray is his guey way beyond this game

if he pitches well he becomes the de facto ace of the staff moving forward

If the A's win tomorrow and advance. Big pitching problems vs the Sawx. No Griffin. Likely no Parker. So they have Colon, Gray, Straily and who? Brett Anderson?

[Louisvillekid1]

Home game. Rookie pitcher. Facing a 60% Cabrera in an elimination game. A's have to win that game, otherwise they will be chokers

You do realize Tigers are in elimination game as well, right? So if they lose with Verlander that won't be considered "chokers", they are the slight favorite.

[rcene]

You do realize Tigers are in elimination game as well, right? So if they lose with Verlander that won't be considered "chokers", they are the slight favorite.

No pressure on Detroit in my opinion. They eliminated A's last year in game five, in Oakland. Verlander continued his dominance over the A's in that game too.

Its now or never for A's to advance. Detroit can play free and easy. Ace on the mound vs their second look at rookie.

[No coincidences]

NoCoin - One guy who is smart, however, is Curt Young. He's one of the game's most respected men re pitching, excellent in every aspect of not only developing young pitchers but managing a staff. He's been the best kept secret of the A's great pitching success for the last 15yrs (absent only the short trip to Boston). You can be sure it was he who drove this decision. My take - the Tigers are a great FB hitting team and Colon throws 80-85% FBs. He may be 40 yrs old and doesn't throw as hard as he once did - but he still lives on it - if it's not the FB it's the hard SL piece - few Changes and no Curves at all. The Detroit L/U is very comfortable up there when they can look hard all the time. Every pitch that beat Straily & co. in gm 4 was a FB (only wish Straily didn't try to go after Peralta with the 2-2 FB bottom 5 - turned my big 5 inning bet into a push). The way to go after the Tigers is to show to them the FB out of the zone/off the plate and go after them for strikes more with the breaking and off speed stuff. Not saying Sonny G is does not throw as hard or harder than Colon - but he mixes it up a lot more - throws about 65% pure heaters. GL on your post season plays.

Well said as usual BB. My concern re: Colon vs. Gray wouldn't be in their stuff at all -- it would be the mental makeup. Big difference between pitching in Game 2 vs. Game 5, but they obviously know a hell of a lot more than I do about Gray's potential mental state tomorrow. I'm just saying that until he toes the rubber in the top of the first, no one will really know -- Gray included. I doubt Colon, on the other hand, would be fazed by this type of setting.

I guess we'll find out tomorrow. But I agree Gray's stuff is a much better matchup vs. the Tiger lineup.

[No coincidences]

No pressure on Detroit in my opinion. They eliminated A's last year in game five, in Oakland. Verlander continued his dominance over the A's in that game too.

Its now or never for A's to advance. Detroit can play free and easy. Ace on the mound vs their second look at rookie.

Not sure I'd go that far. Tigers are in their "prime" with many of their players. They haven't delivered despite multiple postseason appearances and two AL pennants in the last decade. A loss tomorrow would be a pretty horrific failure for the franchise, regardless of how banged up Cabrera is right now.

[InTheDrink]

If the A's win tomorrow and advance. Big pitching problems vs the Sawx. No Griffin. Likely no Parker. So they have Colon, Gray, Straily and who? Brett Anderson?

obviously better to advance and deal with it than to have a six month vacation

after what maddon did last night i wouldnt be shocked to see something like that

that strategy kept tb in the game longer than maybe they should have been

[No coincidences]

obviously better to advance and deal with it than to have a six month vacation

after what maddon did last night i wouldnt be shocked to see something like that

that strategy kept tb in the game longer than maybe they should have been

I'm confused by the idea of even starting Hellickson in the first place, though.

[InTheDrink]

I'm confused by the idea of even starting Hellickson in the first place, though.

maddon must have seen big bear rank him as a top 5 pitcher earlier this year

[stevenash]

A's can say that all they want. Uncle Teddy was at the fence and Reddick had zero chance. Every expert agrees that was in fact a HR.

And I repeat, that is a clear HR and no way that gets overruled.

[stevenash]

maddon must have seen big bear rank him as a top 5 pitcher earlier this year

Who was ranked 4? Joe Saunders?

[Big Bear]

Top 5 MLB pitchers

1. Scherzer
2. Verlander
3 . Kershaw
4. Wainright
5. Wacha

[InTheDrink]

Top 5 MLB pitchers

1. Scherzer
2. Verlander
3 . Kershaw
4. Wainright
5. Wacha

[broadway6]

guy has a 2.65 era this year and wins 18 games and is demoted. stupid move if you ask me...

[broadway6]

Top 5 MLB pitchers

1. Scherzer
2. Verlander
3 . Kershaw
4. Wainright
5. Wacha

BB, go take a lap and think about this post some more.

[InTheDrink]

one game 5 rookie down, one to go

[Big Bear]

If the A's win tomorrow and advance. Big pitching problems vs the Sawx. No Griffin. Likely no Parker. So they have Colon, Gray, Straily and who? Brett Anderson?

Why no Parker?

Not that it will matter b/c Verlander ain't losing to da A's

[rcene]

one game 5 rookie down, one to go

Gray next. Early innings Detroit gets to him.

[rcene]

Why no Parker?

Not that it will matter b/c Verlander ain't losing to da A's

Melvin said that he was dealing with arm fatigue, and they did not like the way he was throwing. They were looking ahead to the alcs, and that they would be down 2 starters in Griffin and Parker.

Big mistake. They need to worry about Verlander tomorrow night when he shuts them out!

[TheMLBKing]

lol @ all the idiot squares in here doubting sonny gray.

[No coincidences]

Top 5 MLB pitchers

1. Scherzer
2. Verlander
3 . Kershaw
4. Wainright
5. Wacha

Just stop already.

[CollegeOverUnder]

Sonny Gray has sick location. If the As get on the board before Detroit they are relying on Verlander carrying them all the way through because they dont have a bullpen. Gotta go with the As in this spot, but im hoping for a West Coast World Series anyways

[2daBank]

LT can we finally agree that oak +150 for series was a good bet?

[matt1216]

Who do the Tigers use for relief? Sanchez? Scherzer toast, Fister toast, Verlander on mound. Rest of the arms besides Smyly are useless.

Interesting.

Sanchez would be the man behind verlander

[Big Bear]

LT can we finally agree that oak +150 for series was a good bet?

Only If the A's win tonight.

it's going to be tough sledding against Justin Verlander.

hopefully that chick that does the
"Cat daddy"! Paid just a little visit last night and he will be a little weak at the knees

[lakerboy]

Only If the A's win tonight.

it's going to be tough sledding against Justin Verlander.

hopefully that chick that does the
"Cat daddy"! Paid just a little visit last night and he will be a little weak at the knees

Bear if you got A's +150 and they are +108 tonight how can you not say its a good bet. It doesn't matter if they win tonight. You're sitting nice at +150 tonight with the game line where it is. Bear you a square?