Monday 7/2/07 - Wednesday 7/4/07 Jays @ A's

[Providence A's]

@

Monday 7/2/07 Josh Towers vs. Lenny DiNardo
Tuesday 7/3/07 Jesse Litsch vs. Joe Blanton
Wednesday 7/4/07 Dustin McGowan vs. Joe Kennedy

Series Notes
-TBA

[hot_corner_gurl]

Ok I'm hoping for a sweep, but realisticly I'll say L-W-W. Both Blanton and Kennedy pitched very well in their last outings, but it was either the bullpen or the offense that failed the A's. DiNardo hasn't been all that sharp since his switch from the bullpen to the rotation. Neither Burnett or McGowan pitched well in their last starts either, but Towers did pitch nicely, IMO. Hopefully that made a little bit of sense...

[Halladay_is_God]

AJ Burnett been placed on the DL (again)

Jesse Litsch has been recalled to start in place of Burnett

[Providence A's]

Thanks for the update. Towers is back with the club, eh? Wasn't he sent to AAA last year after that horrendous start? Did he make it back up last season?

[hot_corner_gurl]

Yes he was at AAA for a while, but since his recall he's pitched better than I expected. He's 3-5 with a 5.59 ERA in 12 starts.

Burnett is on the DL again? One start and he's gone? Wow...that injury must be pretty bad. Either that or he was just too embarassed from his last start.

[Turn 2]

HCG, watch out for this youngster Jessie Litsch he is a pretty good pitcher. Also Dustin McGowan well we no he flirted with a no no and ended up with a 1 hitter. Unfortunetly the A'S don't have there best arms going this series except for Blanton. I am going to have to say for the A's LWL.

[Halladay_is_God]

Thanks for the update. Towers is back with the club, eh? Wasn't he sent to AAA last year after that horrendous start? Did he make it back up last season?

Towers has been with the club all season long, made the rotation as the 5th starter out of camp, then lost the job sent to the bullpen, and injuries hit, 1st McGowan and Marcum got starter spots from them, then finally Towers got a starter spot again when only Burnett, McGowan, and Marcum when healthy.. AND no matter how bad Towers is, he can't lose his spot now, unless Chacin returns quickly.

Jays screwed over John Thomson over 1 million and won't give him a chance as a starter. He's in KC now.

Victor Zambrano sucked as much as Towers, and he's in AAA on rehab.

Towers sucks and hasn't been good at all.

[hot_corner_gurl]

Jessie Litsch does look like a good pitcher. I based my predictions off of their (the Toronto's pitchers) previous starts, not the whole season, so yeah T2 you are right. They are better pitchers than I let on. Even still, I see a series win for the A's here.

[Providence A's]

Both McGowan and Towers have ERAs over 5.00! DiNardo's ERA is 2.47, Blanton's is 3.24, and Kennedy's is 3.91. How can you say Toronto's pitchers are better?

[hot_corner_gurl]

I never said that they were better than the A's pitchers, I just said that they were better than I initially indicated they were.

[Providence A's]

by "you" I meant anyone really...Turn2 expects them to pitch better than the A's apparently. I think a sweep isn't out of the realm of possibility. I predict the A's take 2 out of 3.

[A'sDiehard]

It's gotta feel good for the A's to be home and at least they ended the raod trip with a couple thumpers.

I worry because it seems like we make mediocre pitchers look like Nolan Ryan. We'll see.

Go A's!!

[Halladay_is_God]

McGowan I can explain, really bad starts at the start of the year. In May (his 1st month) McGowan had a ERA of 5.90, and June has been way better with a ERA of 4.54. His last start in May against NYY is when Dustin really started to realize his potential, big difference is how he was pitching form before that start to now.

McGowan had 1 really bad start in June (1.2 IP, 6 ER against LAD) but after that start he pitched his 1-hitter, then came back down a bit with a 5 IP, 5 ER, start.

McGowan should be the only pitcher to worry about this series.


Litsch had a great debut start but been pretty normal after that

Towers just sucks, expect to win if you face him.

[hot_corner_gurl]

I hope that you're right, HIG. But then again, if the A's offense can score as many runs as it has in the past two games, I think that we should be just fine. Cust has been on fire, and Johnson and Swisher seem to have broken out of some bad slumps.

[Turn 2]

by "you" I meant anyone really...Turn2 expects them to pitch better than the A's apparently. I think a sweep isn't out of the realm of possibility. I predict the A's take 2 out of 3.

Overall, I do not think they are better then the A's pitchers. I just said that the youngster Litsch has alot of promise as does McGowan. As for Josh Towers he has been awful most of the season, but his last result got the job done and the win in 6.1 innings allowing 3 runs. As for DiNardo his last outing resulted in a win as well, but he only lasted his usually 5.0 innings and with the state the A's bullpen is in with all the injuries they have there that could be a crucial factor in this series. This of course is just my opinion and most likely the A's will come out and demolish the Jays, but everyone is entitled to an opinion.