Oakland @ Kansas City preview
Kauffman Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 4, 2010 ) Kansas City 3, Oakland 4
Attempting to keep their season from going south of the .500 mark, the Oakland Athletics are looking south of the border.
Left-hander Brian Cramer, who spent the majority of this season pitching in the Mexican League, will make his major league debut when the Athletics visit the Kansas City Royals on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.
With its flickering playoff hopes all but snuffed out after the AL West-leading Texas Rangers swept the New York Yankees this weekend, Oakland will give the 30-year-old Cramer a chance to show his stuff.
Cramer's resume is spotty at best. He was out of baseball for two years (2006-07) and played two of the last three years in the Athletics' minor league system sandwiched around one season in independent league ball.
Prior to this season, Oakland lent Cramer to a Mexican League team in Cancun, where he pitched exceptionally well, going 13-3 with a 2.95 ERA.
That earned Cramer a return trip to Triple-A Sacramento in early August. Again, he was impressive, making seven starts and posting a 2-2 mark with a 1.94 ERA.
Called up on Friday, Cramer could be right in his element pitching against the Royals, who have played like a Triple-A team at times this season.
Kansas City is locked in another fight with the Cleveland Indians to avoid the basement in the AL Central, holding a half-game lead entering Monday's play. Last year, the teams tied for the bottom with identical 65-97 marks.
The Royals have dropped five of their last six games, including a 14-6 throttling at the hands of the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
The game started off with great promise for Kansas City, which received three-run homers from Billy Butler and Brayan Pena in the first inning to grab a 6-0 lead before the White Sox came to bat.
Pena extended his hitting streak to seven games, during which he is batting .407 (11-for-27) and has knocked in nine runs. Butler also had three hits, but the Royals left 12 men on base.
Luke Hochevar (5-4) will be making his first start in three months for Kansas City. He made his first appearance since June 11 on Tuesday, giving up three runs and five hits in relief in a 10-3 loss at Minnesota.
The No. 1 overall pick in 2006, Hochevar was having an up-and-down season before an elbow strain landed him on the disabled list.
Hochevar, who turns 27 on Wednesday, has been hammered by Oakland in his career, going 0-4 with an 11.37 ERA in four starts.