The Oakland Athletics will begin a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Friday. When the series wraps up on Sunday, the A's will have faced the Mariners in seven of their first 10 games to start the season.
The A's will be hoping that Yoenis Cespedes can keep launching the long ball for them. Cespedes leads the team in home runs, RBI and walks. On the other hand, his 11 strikeouts not only lead the team, but are tied for the lead in the major leagues. Still, his free-swinging ways have been worth the risk thus far for the A's.
Starting the game for the A's will be Bartolo Colon, making his third start of the year, all of which have come against the Mariners. He's currently 1-1 with a 5.84 ERA and his two prior starts against the Mariners have been stark opposites, picking up a win on eight strong innings in Japan and coughing up seven earned runs in 4.1 innings back home. He'll try to split the difference and try to manage at least a quality start.
Colon will be going up against Felix Hernandez, also making his third start of the year and third against the A's. He's currently 1-0 with a 4.40 ERA and was also touched for plenty of runs the last time he saw Oakland, although he managed to get enough run support for his first win of the season. It is unlikely that Oakland can manage another six runs against the ace of the Seattle rotation, but they will try.
Friday's game will begin at 7:10 p.m. PT and will be televised on CSN-California. You can listen to the radio broadcast on 95.7 FM The Game.
For all news and information regarding the Oakland A's, please visit Athletics Nation. For updates and perspective regarding the Seattle Mariners, head on over to Lookout Landing or check out SB Nation Seattle.
