After three straight series against contending teams, the Orioles come home to face the second-worst team in the American League, the Athletics. That doesn’t mean the series will be a cake walk. After all, the Orioles are the third-worst team in the AL, just two games ahead of the A’s in the overall standings. And when the Orioles faced them earlier this season in Sacramento, they lost two out of three games.

So what’s going on with the A’s, you ask? For one thing, they are over .500 in the second half, which is more than the Orioles can say. They are a solid offensive team with contributors like Brent Rooker (130 wRC+) and Shea Langeliers (132 wRC+). But the big revelation for the A’s this year has been rookie Nick Kurtz, who leads the team in fWAR a 3.2 despite having played in just 75

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