The Athletics have not swept a series against the Cubs since interleague play began in 2004, but that could change Thursday night in Chicago.
Right-hander J.T. Ginn (3-3, 2.87 ERA) will get the ball when the A’s have a chance to win three consecutive games against the Cubs for the first time.
The A’s started the series at Wrigley Field with 2-1 and 5-4 wins. In the opener on Tuesday, Gage Jump got his first major league win as he held the Cubs to one run on three hits in seven innings. Nick Kurtz added a homer in that game, and he struck again on Wednesday with a 10th-inning RBI single that was the game-winner.
Over the two games, seven relievers contributed 8 1/3 shutout innings and the A’s did not commit an error.
“We’ve played good baseball these last two games,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters after Wednesday’s extra-inning win. “Quality at-bats. Quality pitching. We grinded. That’s what the team is for — to pick each other up.”
Ginn has pitched well on the road this season. He started road victories over the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies before losing 2-1 to the Los Angeles Angels and 2-0 to the San Diego Padres.
In his most recent outing, Ginn threw six innings without allowing an earned run in a 6-4 home win over the New York Yankees last Saturday.
He has never faced the Cubs.
Ginn is scheduled to be opposed by left-hander Shota Imanaga (4-6, 4.37), who will be pitching against the A’s for the second time in his career. He was the winning pitcher in a 9-2 home victory over the A’s on Sept. 16, 2024, as a rookie. He struck out 11 in six innings and gave up two runs on five hits and three walks.
The A’s have caught the Cubs at just the right time. Chicago was 27-13 with a 3 1/2-game lead in the National League Central on May 10. In less than a month, the Cubs have fallen to 6 1/2 games back after a 5-16 stretch.
Indicative of their struggles, the Cubs have managed just 13 hits in 19 innings in the series. Three of their five runs have come from a solo home run by Seiya Suzuki and a two-run shot by Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Not including Crow-Armstrong’s homer, which followed a double by Nico Hoerner, only two of the other 11 hits have come in 17 opportunities with runners in scoring position.
If there was a positive in the Wednesday defeat, in which the Cubs took a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning, it was the homer by Suzuki, his first since May 8 at Texas and his first at Wrigley Field since May 4 against the Cincinnati Reds.
It came after a pregame chat with manager Craig Counsell.
“I talked to Seiya about this today,” Counsell said of a 1-for-13 slump and season batting average that had fallen to .239. “You get to show up the next day and the ‘get to start over and have a great day’ is presented to you.”
– Field Level Media
