Hope the crowd is ape shit. I honestly believe they could get Lester off his game a bit.

I hear they are going for a decibel record tonite

LET's GO ROYALS!! Lester's due to lose!.! :clap: :thumb:

Oh, and kick ass OP!

He's a defending champion...doubt he gets rattled very easily.

2-1 Royals

I get that Lester is good but the last two times we faced him we got three runs off of him in each game. I have a feeling we will do even better than that tonight. I am super nervous but I am also very confident we win with a score of something like 4-1 or 5-2.

I am unusually confident about tonight's game.

I think it's gas

James just needs to get out of the first inning unscathed and then I'll breathe easy

Definitely. Regardless of how he does early he always seems to lock down after that so if he gets out of the first two clean it could be a very good pitching night for us.

From Royals Review:

Here's how the A's lineup:

CF Coco Crisp (S)

LF Sam Fuld (L)

3B Josh Donaldson

DH Brandon Moss (L)

RF Josh Reddick (L)

SS Jed Lowrie (S)

1B Stephen Vogt (L)


C Geovany Soto

2B Eric Sogard (L)

Interesting they are sitting slugger Adam Dunn. Sam Fuld gets the start in left-field and Brandon Moss replaces Dunn at DH, perhaps with the A's looking to improve their defense in what should be a low-scoring game. Geovany Soto gets the start at catcher as Derek Norris struggles with a sore shoulder, and Norris has had issues throwing out runners this year. Stephen Vogt is hitting .100/.211/.100 in 50 plate appearances since August 25, so its interesting they're trying to get his bat in the lineup against James Shields.

The Royals go with pretty much their regular starting lineup the last few weeks:

SS Alcides Esocbar

RF Nori Aoki (L)

CF Lorenzo Cain

1B Eric Hosmer (L)

DH Billy Butler

LF Alex Gordon (L)

C Salvador Perez

2B Omar Infante

3B Mike Moustakas (L)

Moose gets the start against the left-handed Jon Lester because Ned says Moose has been swinging the bat better against lefties.


In the last 28 days, Moustakas is hitting just .234/.277/.286. Can't imagine he is hitting LHPs any better.
— Joshua Ward (@JoshuaKWard) September 30, 2014


Okay, whatever.

We're five hours from game time. I can barely sit still. I can't imagine what the guys in that clubhouse are thinking.

Lineups
Royals
1. Alcides Escobar, SS
2. Nori Aoki, RF
3. Lorenzo Cain, CF
4. Eric Hosmer, 1B
5. Billy Butler, DH
6. Alex Gordon, LF
7. Salvador Perez, C
8. Omar Infante, 2B
9. Mike Moustakas, 3B

A's
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Sam Fuld, LF
3. Josh Donaldson, 3B
4. Brandon Moss, DH
5. Josh Reddick, RF
6. Jed Lowrie, SS
7. Stephen Vogt, 1B
8. Geovany Soto, C
9. Eric Sogard, 2B

The A's have been as inept offensively as we have since the AS break

Buster Olney said on 810 this morning that Brandon Moss needs hip surgery after the season and Josh Donaldson is battling a knee injury right now too.

My erection has lasted far longer than 4 hours.

Just about 3 hours away now.

I agree. But this could be a very different environment.

A 29-year-old virgin is about to uncork on him, so the results could be, um, unsettling. Never know...