Sheets looks to get A’s started against Seattle

After missing an entire season, Ben Sheets is finally ready to take the mound and remind people why he was voted a four-time NL All-Star.

The A’s will host the Seattle Mariners, who are early favorites to win the AL West, tonight at the Coliseum. The Mariners, who played exceptionally well last season despite scoring only 640 runs, have improved their club in the hopes of capturing a division crown.

The Mariners have added ace Cliff Lee, speedster Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley and Casey Kotchman to their club during the offseason.

Needless to say, the A’s will have their hands full for the next four days. Last season the A’s were 4-17 against the Mariners. In order to make some noise this year, Oakland will have to play well against their divsion rivals (Mariners, Rangers and Angels). In fact, A’s fan should get a good look at how their team will stack up against Seattle, since the two play each other seven times in the next ten days.

Ben Sheets will pitch tonight, and the A’s are hopeful that their ace will get them started off on the right foot. I’d expect Sheets to come out firing tonight; setting up a nice pitching dual between himself and Felix Hernandez.

Felix Hernandez, picked by most baseball analysts as the most likely candidate to win the Cy Young in 2010, does have a history against the A’s. Last year, the Seattle ace went 1-0 with a 4.97 ERA against the A’s. But despite these encouraging numbers for A’s fans, I anticipate King Felix to come out sharp tonight.

All in all, I’m excited to see what goes down tonight in Oakland. Game starts at 7:07 PST tonight.