Up next: Athletics

By MARC TOPKIN
Published May 24, 2005

WHAT'S NEW: After six straight seasons of finishing first and second and four playoff appearances, the A's are in trouble, with all parts of their game lacking. Their 17-26 record is their worst at this point since 1997, and they hadn't been eight games out of first place since June 2003. From 2002-04, they spent a total of two days alone in last place.

INJURIES: The A's have six players on the disabled list, including starter Rich Harden, relievers Kiko Calero and Octavio Dotel, shortstop Bobby Crosby and outfielder Nick Swisher.

STREAKS: The A's have gone 25 series since their last sweep, which was Aug.27-29 against the Rays. ... The A's went 14 games without a win by a starter before Seth Etherton won Wednesday.

WHO'S HOT: Outfielder Eric Byrnes is hitting .364 over his past 15 games.

WHO'S NOT: Outfielder Mark Kotsay is hitting .236 over his past 25 games.

SERIES: The Rays won two of three in April at Tropicana Field. Overall, the A's lead 50-19, including 23-13 at the Trop.

KEEP IN MIND: After Hideo Nomo beat the A's on April 9, Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez said: "That was probably the worst stuff I've ever seen to be honest with you. The guy was throwing like 83-84 (mph). Come on. You'd think we could get 20 hits off a guy like that." Nomo is scheduled to pitch against the A's on Thursday.

THEY SAID IT: "We've walked too many people, we've made too many errors, we haven't scored a lot of runs." - A's manager Ken Macha, sounding a lot like Rays manager Lou Piniella, in the San Francisco Chronicle .

[Last modified May 24, 2005, 18:07:09]