The Oakland Athletics currently sit tied for the wild card lead with the Kansas City Royal while ranking three games ahead of the Seattle Mariners. Every win counts at this point as they prepare to face off against the Los Angeles Angels who are currently in the hunt to wrap up home-field advantage for the postseason. The Athletics will put their faith in Jon Lester who is looking for his fourth straight win.
Lester is 16-10 on the season with a 2.41 ERA. If all goes according to plan, he will also start the Tuesday wild card game or a tie breaker game if one should occur. He is coming off a start where he gave up one home run while striking out seven in seven innings. He currently has a 1.71 ERA with a 3-2 record in his last six starts. Right now he has the most momentum on the Athletics' rotation so he will get the start in the tough spots. The issue is getting run support from the rest of the team. The A's have given just one run of support with Lester on the mound against the Angels.
Los Angeles continued the winning as they beat the Athletics on Tuesday thanks to Wade LeBlanc and big hits from Gordon Beckham. They might be 4-6 since breaking a 10-game win streak, but they are still 2 ½ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for the best record in the American League. The team will send Hector Santiago to the mound who is 5-9 with a 3.98 ERA overall while having a 1-0 record with a 1.11 ERA against the Athletics in his last four starts. In his last two, Santiago gave up 10 runs and 12 hits in just three innings. In his last start against Texas, Santiago gave up seven runs and never recording an out as he was pulled in the 12-3 loss. He needs help getting the win as players like Erick Aybar can do the trick. He is 7 for 20 with a .438 batting average in his last nine games.
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