Each team has beaten up on the other in the first two games of the series, with the A’s taking Game One in a 10-1 final while Atlanta won yesterday with a 9-2 win. Now tonight’s game will determine who takes the series, and hopefully the A’s can win it in front of the home crowd.

The Athletics demoted right-hander Mitch Spence to Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, one day after he served up five homers in a 9-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

Catfish Hunter debuted for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965 at 19, the year after going pro. It took time — and a move to Oakland — for him to get his feet fully under him, but once he did, Hunter was brilliant.

A bill to regulate college sports introduced in the House on Thursday would offer limited antitrust protection for the NCAA, while barring schools from using student fees to pay for college athletic programs.

USC athletics is holding off on cutting any sports and instead has eliminated a dozen jobs as it adapts to new revenue sharing with athletes.

The Atlanta Braves are taking on Athletics in hopes of winning the series as well as winning their first series in the state of California this season.

Watch the Diamond League action on the BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 19:00 BST on Friday.

RBI performance gave the Athletics a walk-off win and series victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.