A’s try – After a 1–5 homestand dropped them from first to third in the AL West, the Athletics open a three-game road stretch at Chicago with Gage Jump set for his second career start. The Cubs counter with veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon, and more pivotal pitching
Tuesday is supposed to be a fresh page for the Athletics, but the mood in Oakland—at least on the field—has been anything but calm.
After a brutal 1–5 homestand, the A’s slipped from first place in the AL West down to third behind the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers. They’re starting a new series on the road with real urgency: win tonight, reset quickly, and get some momentum before the schedule turns south to Texas.
The road trip opens at 5:05 against the Chicago Cubs, with the first game of three mid-week contests. The matchup carries its own edge. Chicago began the year hot and in first place, then ran into a rough patch that pushed the Cubs back in the standings.
On the mound for the Athletics is Gage Jump, a young left-hander set for his second career start. Jump has shown promise. but his first big league outing came with the kind of expected growing pains that often arrive with a debut. He pitched five full frames against the Mariners, struck out five, and issued just one free pass. The numbers still leave questions—he allowed four runs on nine hits. Tonight, the challenge is clear: keep the contact down against a Cubs offense that has never seen him before.
Chicago’s starter is Jameson Taillon. a 34-year-old right-hander in his 10th big league season and in his fourth year with the Cubs. Taillon has the résumé of a proven rotation piece, but this season has been rough. Coming into tonight, he has a 5.37 ERA across 11 starts. In particular. his recent form has been shaky: he has allowed 16 runs across his past 14 2/3 innings of work spanning three starts.
Taillon’s season trends also matter because he’s already faced the A’s before. For his career, he has posted a 4.62 ERA in five career starts against them, including a start last year where he pitched six innings of two-run ball in April.
Wednesday’s game keeps the A’s searching for consistency in a different way. Jeffrey Springs will take the ball for the Athletics for his 13th start this year. a 33-year-old left-hander who began hot but then hit a rough patch. His last start was “so-so” by most standards—he allowed five runs, and only two were earned. The bigger concern has been the defense. which has been an issue in recent weeks and has been hurting Springs especially hard. Tonight, Springs is up against a Chicago club he has minimal experience against: four games, one start, and a 5.68 ERA.
The Cubs counter with right-hander Colin Rea, 35, who has been around since 2015. His career has always been a mixed bag. but the back half of his run in Chicago has looked more reliable. He enters Wednesday’s contest with a 4.70 ERA and a role that fits his skill set—an innings-eating presence at the back of the rotation.
Rea has momentum, too. He’s put together back-to-back quality starts entering the game, and the A’s will be hoping to hit him early. He’s also seen them directly before: twice against the A’s, one start and one relief appearance spanning nine innings with four runs allowed.
By Thursday, the series wraps up. There’s no named starter for the finale. but all signs point to rookie Kade Morris getting the ball for his major league debut. Morris is one of the Athletics’ top pitching prospects, and he’s been pitching well at Triple-A this year. The Cubs won’t have much—if any—experience facing him. but it’s still his debut. and rookie nerves wouldn’t be surprising. The A’s. though. need their young pitchers to step up. and Morris’s start is a high-stakes chance for both team and player to find out what they really have.
Whoever pitches for Oakland on Thursday, they’ll be facing Chicago’s Shota Imanaga. The Japanese right-hander is in his third year atop the Cubs rotation. and each season has brought a step back in his MLB performance. This season he’s posted a 4.37 ERA in 12 starts, but the season story has sharp edges.
After being tagged for four runs in his season debut. Imanaga answered with a dominant April—he allowed only seven runs in five starts. May started in the same direction, but his most recent stretch has been painful. In his past three outings, he’s allowed eight runs, seven runs, and five runs, respectively. If the A’s can time anything right. it’s starting a series against him while he’s in that harder stretch—because the Cubs’ pitcher may be coming into form. but he’s also been getting hit.
Underneath the matchups is a parallel storyline that can’t be ignored: shakeup talk. After the A’s most recent lackluster homestand, manager Mark Kotsay said a major shakeup was on the way. How far it goes is expected to become clear this afternoon. and for a team trying to climb out of a slip. the roster decisions could be just as consequential as who starts on the mound.
First pitch is at 5:05. For the A’s, it’s not just the start of a road series—it’s an opening act in a week where the standings, the pitching matchups, and whatever changes arrive today all collide at once.
Athletics A’s Cubs Gage Jump Jameson Taillon Jeffrey Springs Colin Rea Kade Morris Shota Imanaga Mark Kotsay MLB