rewrite this title Deadspin | Athletics continue odd homestand against scuffling Pirates

The Athletics continue their unusual homestand Monday in their present home after winning four of six games in their future home.

The A’s took two out of three contests from both the Brewers and the Rockies in Las Vegas. Now it is back to West Sacramento, Calif., to open a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

Overall the week in Las Vegas was positive, but a 23-9 loss to the Colorado Rockies Sunday in which pitchers gave up 24 hits and six home runs was not a great way to leave Nevada.

The Athletics plan to move into a major league stadium in Las Vegas in 2028. Last week’s games were played at Triple-A Las Vegas Ballpark.

The good news for the A’s is they send arguably their best pitcher to the mound to open the Pirates series in J.T. Ginn.

Ginn (4-3, 3.15 ERA) is coming off a win against the Brewers. It was not his best outing. as the right-hander gave up five runs on eight hits in five-plus innings of a 7-5 victory.

It was their first win in Las Vegas and manager Mark Kotsay admitted the pitchers need to get used to the thin-air conditions.

“These conditions to pitch in are tough,” he said. “But he (Ginn) grinded and gave us what we needed.”

Heading into the contest, Ginn had posted a 1.49 ERA in his previous six starts.

The 27-year-old is 9-11 with a 4.23 ERA in 46 career games, including 34 starts.

He has yet to face the Pirates.

The A’s hitters had no problems Sunday as they belted out 15 hits, including two home runs.

Tyler Soderstrom had two hits, including his 12th home run, and has reached base in 21 straight games.

The Pirates have dropped seven of their last nine games, including losing two out of three in Miami over the weekend.

Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes had 10 strikeouts Sunday, but the offense failed as the team dropped a 4-2 decision to the Miami Marlins.

The Pirates have lost six straight starts by Skenes.

“It hasn’t been one thing, just we haven’t put together a complete game with him out there,” Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. “I can’t point to one thing. He has been consistent every time out there.”

The Pirates will turn to right-hander Jared Jones (1-0, 4.73) on Monday. Kelly purposely placed Jones in the rotation between his best starters — Skenes and Mitch Keller.

Skenes and Keller can go late into games so having Jones in the middle gives the Pirates a fresh bullpen if they need it.

“When we look at Jones, he’s not going to be unleashed, where we can just let him roll at seven innings and 100 pitches,” Kelly told Yahoo Sports. “It’s going to be managed as we go. To have him in between Paul and Mitch just made a lot of sense to us, as far as managing innings, having two innings-eaters on either side of him.”

Jones has made three starts this season and has pitched a total of 13 1/3 innings.

“Mitch is a great pitcher, mixes it in-and-out, up-down,” Kelly said. “The changeup has gotten better, and he’s just an innings eater for us that has historically thrown a lot for us. Felt like putting Jones in between those two was a good spot.”

Jones is 7-8 in his career in 25 outings, all starts. He has yet to face the A’s in his career.

–Field Level Media