MLB Game Preview - St. Louis at Oakland

Sun Aug 4, 2019 4:07 PM EDT

A's Roark on new team facing familiar foe

Tanner Roark is scheduled to make his Oakland Athletics debut against a familiar foe and pitching rival when he faces the visiting St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of a two-game interleague series on Sunday afternoon.

The A's knocked the Cardinals out of first place in the National League Central with an 8-3 win in the series opener on Saturday night. St. Louis (58-51) moved to the top of the NL wild-card race.

Oakland (63-48), meanwhile, retained the third position in the American League wild-card chase, a half-game behind Tampa Bay (64-48).

Roark (6-7, 4.24 ERA) pitched in the NL Central for the Cincinnati Reds until acquired by the A's at the trade deadline earlier in the week.

He has started twice against St. Louis this season, getting no-decisions in a 5-2 Reds win on April 13 and a 7-4 Reds loss on July 18. The 32-year-old has faced the Cardinals nine times in his career, seven times as a starter, and has gone 2-3 with a 5.45 ERA.

"He'll probably feel like he never left the division," A's manager Bob Melvin kidded with reporters before Saturday's win. "Maybe we can learn something from him."

Roark's April start against the Cardinals was head-to-head with right-hander Adam Wainwright (7-7, 4.47), who also is scheduled to start Sunday. The veterans have battled three times in their careers, going as far back as 2013, with Roark's team winning two of three.

Wainwright went unbeaten in five July starts, going 2-0 with a 4.85 ERA. He has pitched brilliantly against the A's in his career, going 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA in three starts. His previous Oakland outing came in 2013, when he went the distance in a 7-1 win. The complete game was one of 22 he's recorded in his career.

The A's roughed up Dakota Hudson in Saturday's 8-3 win, knocking out the 10-game winner in the fourth inning.

Roark will seek to duplicate the effort of Mike Fiers, who became the A's first 10-game winner with 5 2/3 effective innings.

Fiers and four Oakland relievers successfully navigated through a beefed-up middle of the St. Louis order, with Marcell Ozuna returning to the lineup Saturday after missing more than a month with two broken fingers on his right hand.

Ozuna (1-for-3 with walk) and Paul Goldschmidt (2-for-4 with a double) combined to get on base four times in the game, which was exactly what manager Mike Shildt expected when he scripted his lineup card.

"Those are two big, high-profile guys," Shildt boasted to reporters before the game. "Those are guys (other teams) have to have a game plan for."

A's pitchers stranded seven Cardinals baserunners in the game, holding St. Louis hitters to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

The A's weren't much better in the clutch, going 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They stranded 10 baserunners yet managed a fifth win in their last six games.

The A's have gone 3-0 against the Cardinals this season, recording 7-3 and 2-0 wins in St. Louis in June.

--Field Level Media