While I will admit it’s been difficult lately to find much to get excited about with the Oakland Athletics, I would whole-heartedly suggest tuning into tonight’s matchup against the Houston Astros at 7:05 PM PT. Scott Kazmir is coming back to Oakland and hopefully to a standing ovation, while Sonny Gray will be on the bump for the green and gold. Getting to watch two good friends go after each other on the ball field is one of the all time greatest opportunities for a classic.

There isn’t anybody else you would rather beat more than your friend and the fiery arms on the mound tonight epitomize the true meaning of familiar competition. Having been together on the A’s in 2014 and half of 2015, the two grew close as a teacher and student. Last season was Gray’s first full one in the MLB and Kazmir being there from the beginning took Sonny under his wing – partially because I think he saw a lot of himself in him. They also were responsible – until Samardzija and Lester came – for leading the rotation as they also did the first half of this year.

Yet, since going to Houston, Kazmir has struggled a bit, which is to be expected going from a pitcher-happy O.Co Coliseum to a batter-friendly Minute Maid Park. In August, he had a 1-4 record over five starts with a 3.96 ERA and was only able to go 4.1 innings in his start last week against the Seattle Mariners. His buddy Gray also has had a tough couple of outings, culminating in his worst start of the season against the LA Angels on September 2^nd. He gave up a season-high six earned runs through only five innings, getting tagged with his seventh loss of the year.

So with both pitchers having subpar performances recently, it should only intensify tonight’s matchup even more and here’s why. With neither having their best stuff as of late, tonight will be a game they will both look to lock in on and hopefully get each other back on track. While it can be difficult to break out of a rut – as both are looking too – there is no better way to reverse ones poor performance than to have a personal challenge.

Oh, a little trash talk also helps too.

According to Kazmir on MLB.com, “With Sonny up there, he’s already been texting. Once we figured out exactly when he was going to pitch, that’s when the trash talking started.”

However, apparently it’s been going on since the trade as Kazmir told Oliver Macklin, “As soon as I got traded, [there] was trash talking,” he said. “It was, ‘I can’t wait ‘til you get back here.’”

Although neither is sure who really instigated the banter, both have still have some fun with it. “I don’t think you want to pitch on Tuesday,” Kazmir said he told Gray in a text message.

Well tonight is a chance for Gray and Kazmir to try and silence the other and I would recommend watching CSN Bay Area tonight in order to see it. There’s nothing like buddies duking it out, and with two of the best in the league out on the bump, it should be nothing but fun.