The Marlins continue their delightful West Coast road trip with a three-game series against the Oakland Atheltics, which kicks off tonight at the Coliseum.
Javier Vazquez takes the mound for the Fish, in what will be his ninth career start against Oakland. Hopefully Javy will be able to duplicate the 5 1/3 scoreless innings he tossed against the Angels last Tuesday, which brought the Marlins' 11-game losing streak to a screeching halt. (Or at least to a slight pause.) The Athletics have been struggling to score runs here of late, but Javier Vazquez is usually the antidote to such offensive slides and hopefully that trend won't change tonight.
Gio Gonzalez is on the hill for the A's, and will be making his first start ever against the Fish. He's coming off of an excellent outing against the Mets last week, though he lost the decision due to a lack of run support from his team. The A's have scored Gonzalez two runs or fewer in nine of his 15 starts this season. No need to go changing that against the Marlins.
Apparently the Oakland weather wants the Marlins to feel right at home, because it is raining cats and dogs there tonight. If the game is postponed, we can blame Bono for this one as well. According to the beat tweeps, new sod had to be put down at the Coliseum after a U2 concert there, and that might end up being the reason tonight's game is rained out. Fabulous.
Ichthyomancy may be asleep before first pitch. That is, if first pitch ever happens.