The Oakland Athletics released their lineup today, but the pertinent information for A’s pitchers is that Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista is out of the lineup. Bautista has apparently left the team in order to attend to a personal matter. Former Athletics outfielder Rajai Davis will be playing in center field and hitting leadoff.
Oakland will send out the following lineup tonight:
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Daric Barton, 1B
3. Conor Jackson, LF
4. Josh Willingham, DH
5. Mark Ellis, 2B
6. David DeJesus, RF
7. Kurt Suzuki, C
8. Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B
9. Andy LaRoche, SS
The A’s utilized the same lineup for each of the first three games and tonight’s lineup is a significant change from the first three games. The Blue Jays are sending out left handed pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes and the A’s are going with a more right-handed lineup. The significant differences are Conor Jackson and Andy LaRoche replacing Hideki Matsui and Cliff Pennington in the lineup.
The Blue Jays lineup will include:
1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Yunel Escobar, SS
3. Adam Lind, 1B
4. Aaron Hill, 2B
5. Juan Rivera, RF
6. Edwin Encarnacion, DH
7. Travis Snider, LF
8. Jayson Nix, 3B
9. Jose Molina, C