Game #79: A's 6, Padres 5

June 29, 2006 | A's @ San Diego

As you know, Thursdays are a busy day for me. So if the A's are playing a day game, I'm likely to miss it. But then...

Start of tanner buffer: Thu Jun 29 17:27:35 2006
[15:30] tanner: nail biting time.
[15:30] wella: sup
[15:30] wella: i came back from a meeting and a conf call
[15:30] wella: last i saw it was 3-3 in the 7th
[15:30] wella: what's it now?
[15:30] tanner: now it is 5-3 oak
[15:30] tanner: bottom of ninth
[15:30] tanner: street on
[15:30] tanner: man on first no out
[15:31] tanner: two walks!
[15:45] wella: what's happening?
[15:45] tanner: well..
[15:45] tanner: street walks the first two guys.
[15:45] tanner: gets a ground ball and they can't turn a double play
[15:45] tanner: so first and third one out
[15:45] tanner: then it appears that they pick off the runner on first
[15:46] tanner: but...
[15:46] tanner: DJ drops the ball
[15:46] tanner: so now second and third one out
[15:46] tanner: strike out
[15:46] tanner: then they intentionally walk Brian Giles
[15:46] tanner: bases full
[15:46] tanner: and a single by JOsh Bard ties it up
[15:47] tanner: and now Trevor Hoffman is pitching
[15:49] wella: it's over...
[15:50] tanner: ???
[15:50] wella: i'm just saying... this game is lost
[15:50] tanner: no way
[15:50] wella: i'm ready to throw in the series and let the padres have it
[15:50] tanner: how dare you
[15:50] tanner: :>
[15:51] tanner: this is a good test
[15:51] wella: san diego has been bad karma all around
[15:51] wella: let's just get it over with, go home and start afresh w/ the homestand
[15:51] wella: we can't win 'em all
[15:51] tanner: we need this one.
[15:51] tanner: we have been playing poorly
[15:51] tanner: we should have one this one but we stumbled
[15:52] tanner: but if we pull it out it washes all of the bad play away
[15:52] tanner: come home, get some home town love, and kick some butt
[15:52] tanner: go out and have some beers wiht Eric Byrnes
[15:52] tanner: it'll be great
[15:52] wella: my, you're a happy camper
[15:53] tanner: it beats the alternative
[15:53] wella: yes, MY alternative: wallow in self-pity
[15:53] wella: but i wanna do it anyway
[15:54] tanner: then you will be pleased to see we went down on 11 pitches
[15:54] tanner: i missed swicher actually getting a hit
[15:55] tanner: Ron Flores is in.
[15:55] tanner: What could possibly go wrong?
[15:55] tanner: our sixth pitcher of the evening
[15:56] tanner: at least rob schneider look-alike mark bellhorn popped out on a 3-0 count
[15:56] tanner: his teammates should beat him senseless for that
[15:59] tanner: the padres go out on 9 pitches
[15:59] tanner: they are intimidated by Ron Flores
[15:59] tanner: your boyfriend Mike Rouse is due up 2nd
[15:59] tanner: he will hit a home run to win the game
[16:00] wella: ooh... that's a tantalizing idea
[16:00] wella: dare I open up Gameday?
[16:00] tanner: sure
[16:00] tanner: get ready for inning 11
[16:02] tanner: payton retired on one pitch
[16:02] tanner: now pitching Jon Adkins
[16:02] tanner: i guess hoffman only has 10 pitches in him
[16:03] tanner: no out recorded
[16:03] tanner: music to my ears
[16:06] wella: is it over yet?
[16:06] wella: tell me if the news is good or bad
[16:06] tanner: top of the 11th
[16:06] tanner: your boyfriend doubled
[16:07] tanner: one out.
[16:07] wella: Swish seems to be on a downswing of sorts
[16:17] tanner: kendall makes an out of some variety
[16:18] tanner: not exactly
[16:18] tanner: kendall singles
[16:18] tanner: rouse is thrown out at home
[16:18] wella: NOOOO!
[16:19] tanner: he stopped to admire his reflection in Ron Washington's glasses
[16:19] tanner: he was thinking... i don't really think I look like Ashton Kutcher
[16:19] tanner: but if she says it... it must be true.
[16:21] wella: yeah, not ashton kutcher
[16:21] wella: maybe not anyone
[16:22] wella: but he is cute :-)
[16:22] tanner: mike rouse is his own man
[16:22] wella: yesss...
[16:24] tanner: ron flores retires the side on 8 pitches
[16:24] tanner: ho-hum
[16:30] tanner: swisher and chavez strike out
[16:31] tanner: ron flores is actually batting for himself
[16:31] tanner: they are not going to unleash Antonio Perez on teh Padres just yet
[16:31] tanner: unlike possible all-stars chavez and swisher, flores acutally makes contact
[16:31] tanner: he grounds out to the catcher
[16:35] tanner: he is the chaing kai shek of baseball
[16:38] tanner: ron flores retires the padres on 6 pitches
[16:38] tanner: *yawns*
[16:38] tanner: he even gave up a single
[16:38] tanner: flores has thrown 23 pitches in 3 innings
[16:41] tanner: dan johnson strikes out
[16:42] wella: BTW since i'm not able to watch the game, i just might use the transcript of our conversation for the blog entry :-)
[16:42] tanner: jay payton swings at the first pitch he sees and grounds out
[16:43] tanner: Wella's boyfriend strides up the plate.
[16:43] wella: again?
[16:43] wella: we've gone thru the lineup already?
[16:44] tanner: it's true.
[16:44] tanner: btw...
[16:44] tanner: Antonio Perez owns the 14th inning
[16:45] tanner: i feel sorry for the Padres if they don't score in the bottom of the 13th - cuz this game is ovah!
[16:46] tanner: flies out to CF
[16:46] tanner: btw... Jason Kendall stole two bases
[16:46] tanner: even Chavez got into the act
[16:47] tanner: maybe we didn't notice that Piazza wasn't catching
[16:52] tanner: i am not a fan of National League baseball
[16:52] tanner: but i am excited now because Chan Ho Park is pinch hitting for Alan Embree
[16:52] tanner: that is real quality baseball
[16:53] tanner: i would be more interested to see the A's bring Kotsay into pitch
[16:53] tanner: but i think we will have to wait a few more innings for that
[16:53] tanner: Ron Flores is not fazed by Korea's finest hitting pitcher and he wraps up another inning in 11 pitches
[16:54] tanner: after the fact but... Park was hitting 360 in 25 at bats
[16:55] wella: Chan Ho Park? I thought they were playing in Petco Park.
[16:55] wella: (ha ha! my weak little joke)
[16:55] tanner: Wooooooooo!
[16:56] wella: honestly, a few years ago I thought Chan Ho Park was a stadium in the NL
[16:56] tanner: btw... Flores pitched two innings last night too
[16:58] tanner: scutaro walks
[16:59] tanner: kotsay sacrifices scutaro to second
[16:59] tanner: so we need a base hit from kendall or swisher
[16:59] tanner: btw...
[17:00] tanner: the choices for next pitcher are ugly...
[17:00] tanner: either gaudin or duchscherer
[17:00] tanner: both of whom threw 25 pitches last night
[17:01] tanner: kendall hit by pitch
[17:02] tanner: swisher hits into a fielder's choice
[17:03] tanner: first and third and it is up to chavez
[17:03] tanner: intentional walk to get to Antonio Perez
[17:04] tanner: To repeat myself... Antonio Perez is known in the Domincan as Senor 14th inning
[17:04] tanner: padres pticher scott cassidy must know this
[17:04] tanner: as he starts him with three straight balls
[17:05] tanner: perez lets him have a strike
[17:05] tanner: foul for strike two.
[17:05] tanner: at this point i can't help but root for Antonio and his 082 batting average
[17:06] tanner: WALK!
[17:06] tanner: Perez drives in a run!
[17:06] tanner: U-S-A!U-S-A!U-S-A!U-S-A!U-S-A!U-S-A!
[17:06] tanner: *stands up on desk and dances*
[17:06] tanner: *checks to see if anyone is looking*
[17:07] tanner: i am pretty sure you get fined in the team kangaroo court for walking an 082 hitter with the bases loaded
[17:10] tanner: DJ is up to 12 pitches in his at bat
[17:11] tanner: a 14 pitch out.
[17:11] wella: re: DJ -- he has to make up for that dropped ball
[17:12] wella: that started all of this
[17:12] tanner: too late.
[17:12] wella: ugh
[17:12] tanner: thankfully the A's saved Antonio Perez for the perfect moment
[17:14] tanner: Chad Gaudin comes in to wrap it up!
[17:15] tanner: 1 out.
[17:16] tanner: san diego singles
[17:17] tanner: vinny castilla singles on a ground ball to marco scutaro
[17:17] tanner: this is where gameday fails us
[17:18] tanner: i can't imagine vinny castilla hitting an infield single
[17:18] tanner: it does not compute
[17:19] tanner: three outs are in the books
[17:19] tanner: but i can't tell how
[17:19] tanner: ok... Brian Giles lines out to Mike Rouse at 2nd
[17:19] tanner: Rouse tosses to Scutaro to double off Mike Cameron and the A's win the game.
[17:20] tanner: Outstanding.
[17:20] tanner: Now take a shower.
[17:20] tanner: get on the plane.
[17:20] tanner: and in the words of a terrible manager...
[17:20] tanner: "let's pound some Budweisers!"
[17:20] wella: you were right, i was wrong. we could win this game.
[17:21] tanner: ye of little faith
[17:21] wella: :-)
[17:21] tanner: ironic isn't it
[17:21] wella: oh don't go rubbing it in now!
[17:22] tanner: that's not my style.
[17:22] tanner: :-I
[17:24] tanner: that's the ball game folks.
[17:24] tanner: your three stars of the game...
[17:24] tanner: 1. Ron Flores
[17:24] tanner: 2. Jay Payton for getting multiple hits and hitting an actual home run
[17:25] tanner: 3. My write-in candidate for the all-star game, Antonio Perez
[17:25] tanner: later.
[17:25] *** "tanner" signed off at Thu Jun 29 17:25:53 2006.
End of tanner buffer: Thu Jun 29 17:27:35 2006

(Game experience: Checked ESPN-MLB on my cell once, heard less than two minutes on the radio, but mostly relied on Tanner Boyle's updates)

A's record: 42-36 | streak: W-1 | well-A-meter:

Game #78: A's 1, Padres 8

June 28, 2006 | A's @ San Diego

Let's wallow in the ugliness of it all...

• The nightmarish 4th inning featuring Joe Blanton's wild pitch with the bases loaded and his error at home plate while two baserunners score. The hapless look on Blanton's face was painful to watch.

• The home runs (one each) from Mike Piazza and Mike Cameron both ended up in the second deck.

• Nick Swisher, who's done his share of carrying the A's, is 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

• Duchscherer's relief appearance in the 7th was a dud. He gave up four hits and the Padres scored two runs. Every time a batter made contact with Duchscherer's pitch, it was a line drive to left field where no one could get to it.

• Chad Gaudin's balk was much more blatant than Zito's last night (though Zito had a baserunner at third who scored a run).

Enough wallowing. The game's over and tomorrow is another day. To end on a good note, this game marked Doug Clark's first major league hit. Well, it was also the first hit by an A's pinch hitter this season, ha!


Maybe it's 'cause the A's lost, but I'm really annoyed by Khalil Greene's bad hairstyle.

(Game experience: Radio, then TV )

A's record: 41-36 | streak: L-2 | well-A-meter: 2

Game #77: A's 0, Padres 3

June 27, 2006 | A's @ San Diego

The bats have turned stone cold, just as they did a week ago in Colorado.

• Barry Zito's shortest outing since Opening Day. And another balk!

• Crosby steals two bases and his uniform showed it. His jump throw in the bottom of the 8th was very cool.

• Padres starter Chris Young has the build of a basketball player.

• Action 6 Cable 36 showed a picture of Jeff Spicolli to demonstrate his resemblance to Khalil Greene.

• I like Brad Halsey. I like seeing him on the mound.

• Where's Mike Rouse? Put him in, Macha!

Billy Beane was in the stands. San Diego is his hometown and he watched the game, like any other fan, and probably with relatives, on the field level.

Since the publication of Moneyball in 2002, where Michael Lewis famously recounted Beane's meltdown when the A's were losing a game, Beane said he has mellowed and he's able to watch games. Last time I recall seeing Beane in the stands was when the A's signed Bobby Crosby's contract.

As they showed glimpses of Billy Beane sitting calmly in his seat, I entertained myself suspecting that he couldn't wait to get up and destroy something.

(Game experience: Some radio, some TV.)

A's record: 41-35 | streak: L-1 | well-A-meter: 2

Special Edition: Barry Zito on Baseball-Reference.com

You know how you go to the supermarket checkout line and they have all those racks of candy, gum, magazines, gift cards, mini-astrology books, etc. and you buy some Tic Tacs or a cold soda just 'cause it's there?

Or you're strolling along, then you step into a store, and you see something that you never knew existed before but now you must have it, and so you pull out your wallet?

It's even worse when you're surfing Amazon.com or iMusicStore, because all your credit card information is already in there and all you have to do is >>click!<< Well, I made my own impulse purchase. I sponsored the Barry Zito player page on Baseball-Reference.com.

I'm not quite sure what came over me. I was doublechecking some facts on Cy Young Award winners when I came upon Zito's page and saw that it was available for sponsorship.

Let me just say, at this point where I am right now, I can't really afford to sponsor a Barry Zito page. Come on, BARRY ZITO? Me?!

So please visit the page and try to get some enjoyment out of it if you can. I'll just sit here and wait for UPS to deliver my new purchases from Victoria's Secret.

Game #76: A's 10, Giants 4

June 25, 2006 | A's @ San Francisco

Thank goodness the A's won or I would've been in this funk for a couple more days.

• I'm very excited that the A's bats are alive and well. When the Giants tied the A's at 4-4, what happened afterwards is exactly what I want to see every time: the A's responded by scoring ahead in the next inning, then continued to pile on a bunch of insurance runs.

• Loaiza's 97-pitch complete game victory is not lost upon me. I commend his accomplishment. Today's was an especially good win. Now keep it up, 'Teban, and don't drink and drive.

• As Celeste commented yesterday, there was a triple in the 9th on the Friday and on the Saturday game. Jay Payton (4-for-5 today, natch!) must've heard her because he hit a triple in the 9th this afternoon. Amazing coincidence. This series must be skewing the stats for the folks at The Hardball Times; they think the triple is an endangered species.

• Antonio Perez is getting my attention. He got a double — a double! — in today's game. Uh, yeah, he was 1-for-4, but I'm happy for him when he gets a hit. And didn't I see him execute a good defensive play by throwing from third to first and getting a runner out?

• I read in the Contra Costa Times that Mark Ellis's broken thumb is healing. Ellis could be back in the line-up as soon as this Friday. I really like the depth we have this season. As many guys as there are on the DL (Harden, Thomas, Bradley, for instance), Macha can manage with who's healthy. Three cheers for Billy Beane!

• Matt Cain, 21-year-old Giants pitcher. Fourth youngest in franchise history. Despite his loss today, I take him as a good sign for the Giants. They need to start adding young blood to the team. As GeneralChiang described it to me yesterday at AT&T Park: The Giants are like those aging actresses who keep adding plastic surgery.

• I also want to call out Steve Finley who appears to have bloomed since leaving the Angels. Excellent performance in this series. He was all over center field, he was making contact and driving in runs, he was scoring... Sometimes you just have to tip your hat.

• Looking back, I was anguished by yesterday's loss (we had a five-run lead!), but for what it's worth I did get to see the only Barry Bonds home run of the series. He left the game early with a limp. It's easy to forget that despite Bonds having 719 career homeruns to date, he's only hit 11 this season and only four in the last five weeks. This is Barry Bonds I'm talking about. He's batting .252 and if he misses any games because of this irritated left knee, it means he gets fewer at-bats and fans get fewer opportunities to witness him hit a HR. (Yes, my magnanimity which started just before Bonds hit #715 continues.)

(Game experience: Some FSN Bay Area)

A's record: 41-34 | streak: W-1 | well-A-meter: 3

Game #75: A's 7, Giants 8 (by GeneralChiang)

June 24, 2006 | A's @ San Francisco

As I'm too depressed to write about today's game myself, here's a guest blog entry from GeneralChiang:

Talk about your emotional rollercoasters...

Just as Wella's mom and I are settling in our seats, the A's are granted a gift run in the top of the 1st as the normally surehanded shortstop Omar Vizquel fails to handle a throw as Mark Kotsay is caught leaning too far off of second. Bobby Crosby comes through with the clutch two-out single to drive home the A's first run. A's lead 1-0.

The bottom of the 1st, Wella arrives in time to see A's starter and boyfriend-du-jour Dan Haren surrender the 719th home run of Barry Bonds' career. Everyone in attendance is eligible for a free "I saw 719" pin from the Giants. A's trail 1-2.

Top of the 3rd, the A's touch up ineffective Giants' starter Jamey Wright for three runs. The big hit being Dan Johnson's two run double. A's lead 4-2.

Bottom of the 3rd, the Giants load the bases after Haren throws a Rick Ankiel-esque wild pitch while facing Bonds. Following an IBB to Barry, Ray Durham drives a shot to Scutaro's right. Marco extends his body, dives, snares the ball cleanly, gets up and throws out Durham. A rally is averted and A's still lead 4-2.

Top of the 6th, the A's pad the lead to 7-2 with key hits from Scutaro and Kotsay. It's always a good sign when a team can score runs anywhere in the lineup.

Bottom of the 6th, the Giants answer back with two runs as they chase Haren out of the game as I'm purchasing a $7.00 plate of mixed fruit. New A's pitcher Chad Gaudin (who's last name sounds like an impressionist painter) immediately shuts down the rally with a double play. A's lead 7-4.

Bottom of the 7th, Ken Macha proves that he knows how to manage National League baseball by making a flashy double switch of Payton and Calero for Johnson and Sauerbeck in the 7th and Clark and Street for Payton and Calero in the 8th.

Bottom of the 8th, Street comes in with two outs and two on and totally overmatches Omar Vizquel for the third out. A's are looking good with a 7-5 lead and Street on the mound.

Top the 9th, it looks like the Giants are giving up by bringing Tim Worrell to pitch. To everyone's surprise, he gets out of the inning without giving up any runs. WTF?

Bottom of the 9th, Street uncharacteristically falls behind Giants first baseman Mike Sweeney 2-0 and then surrenders a lead-off single. He then pitches to Bonds carefully, but walks him. First and second with no outs and trailing by two runs, the Giants decide to play "small ball" and have
Ray Durham lay down a sacrifice bunt. Thus far, Durham is 0-for-4 while leaving six runners on base. Durham fails to lay down the bunt and falls behind 0-2.

After a waste pitch makes the count 1-2, out of nowhere, Durham strokes a three-run walk-off homer into the right field promenade. The A's lose 7-8. For the first time in the 13 years that I've known her, Wella is speechless.

(Game experience: View Reserved 320)

A's record: 40-34 | streak: L-1 | well-A-meter: 2

Game #74: A's 4, Giants 3

June 22, 2006 | A's @ San Francisco

Ahhh yes... another Bay Bridge Series... another chance to kick Giant ass!

Thanks to Nick Swisher who hits a game-winning, run-scoring triple in the top of the 9th.

Thanks also to some of my other favorite players: Kendall, Kotsay, Kielty. Their at-bats in the 9th laid the groundwork for this amazing comeback. Though I guess I should also thank Giants closer Armando Benitez for his blown save/this victory. Snicker!

Jason Schmidt pitched better and an inning longer than Joe Blanton. But through seven innings, the score was tied 2-2.

Surprisingly — for me, at least — Barry Bonds steals a base in the 8th, then Pedro Feliz hits to center and Bonds scores the tie-breaking run.


There was so much talk from both the A's and Giants announcers about how much weaker Bonds is playing defense, how he has to be careful about his surgically repaired knee, etc. I didn't expect Bonds to steal. In fact, when I saw Gaudin throw to first to keep Bonds honest, I thought, "Oh, don't worry about it, Chad."

So when Bonds productively stole a base, well... I was reminded that he is a great baseball player, not just someone who, in his career, hits three home runs every 12.1 at-bats [Baseball-Reference.com].

Also:

• Antonio Perez, who entered the game 2-for-40, gets a hit off Schmidt! Turns out Perez is a fastball hitter. I've been harsh on Perez. I still expect to see something good come out of him, but for now I'm feeling sorry that he's struggling so much.
• Bonds gets the first run of the game when Blanton gives up a base on balls with the bases loaded.
• Both teams play this game wearing throwback 1982 uniforms. In 1982 I was barely aware of baseball as a sport.

(Game experience: 1/3 KYCY 1550 AM, 1/3 KTVU Fox Channel 2, 1/3 FSN BA)

A's record: 40-33 | streak: W-2 | well-A-meter: 3

Special Edition: Random sightings

by wella

Sighting #1:

I got an IM from Steve earlier today (unfortunately I was offline). He was eating at Fudrucker's when in comes a "tall kid" who looks like Dan Haren. Turns out it was DAN HAREN!

I'm dying of jealousy. How many times did I hang out with Steve and we never ran into anyone, much less my favorite Oakland A's starting pitcher!

Sighting #2:

Joker told me he was walking outside the Googleplex in Mountain View at lunchtime and saw a bunch of police cars. Apparently some Very Important Person was visiting Google this morning.

Kriss had this eyewitness report:

A line of 10 to 12 black and also tan Expedition SUVs left Google with police escorts about 12:40 PM. Traffic was stopped by a Google employee to let them out to Charleston Avenue. The police cars in the front and at the end of the convoy had their lights flashing.

She learned it was Leonel Fernández, the president of the Dominican Republic, his entourage, and also SAMMY SOSA who must've had big business with Google.

Game #73: A's 3, Rockies 2

June 21, 2006 | A's @ Colorado

Nick Swisher carries the team...
Swisher goes deep twice and scores the other run in extra innings. He scored on a single to left fielder after a Johnny Damon-esque lollipop throw from left. Thank you, Matt Holliday.

I cringed when Chavez made a half-hearted attempt to run over the catcher on the next play. I had Jermaine Dye flashbacks — never a good thing for an A's fan.

The good news is that Swisher can carry the team. The bad news is that he has to.

Head for the Rockies...
Three runs in three games in Coors just seems unbelievable, in spite of the Rockies' attempt to counteract the thin, dry air of Denver.

As they are moistening the balls in the humidor, they are also getting better pitching. Last year Coors Field added 28.5% more runs (1st in MLB) to games played in Denver. This year Coors is adding not quite 4% to the scoring (10th in MLB). Park Factors Explained

Barry Zito does good work...
One earned run over 7 IP. Too many walks: 4. But this is one of the dangers of Coors — pitchers tightening up and trying to be too cute with their control. They end up walking more batters than normal and the hits they are giving up are finding gaps or seats.

Zito has now lasted 6 innings or more in this last 15 starts. His one true disaster was the first game against the Yankees, other than that he has been great.

First place...
In spite of our little scoring drought we are one game ahead of Texas and playing the Giants in AT&T Park starting Friday. The pitching matchups aren't fabulous for us and I am curious to see which version of Loaiza shows up.


(Game experience: TV)

A's record: 39-33 | streak: W-1

Game #72: A's 0, Rockies 6

June 20, 2006 | A's @ Colorado

I don't want to talk about it. But my mom is willing to give this report. Portions are translated from Tagalog and there's absolutely no fact-checking done. Take it away, Mom:

Esteban Loaiza was dishing out good pitches to the Rockies. Can you imagine? The Rockies are the worst team in the NL.

And the A's aren't hitting. When someone can't hit, then no one else can hit. Why is that? Why do they do that together?

And when someone gets on base, they get a double play!

Are they scared? When the other team scores first, it's like they're scared. What kind of behavior is that? Maybe this will be the first time they'll get a three-game shutout. [dripping with disdain]

It's always the 4th inning when the other team scores a lot.

Maybe this is a 10-game losing streak...

Gaudin was good. Then Flores came out. But I stopped watching. I can tell when they're going to lose. My intuition is strong. So I watched basketball instead. But I also knew Dallas was going to lose. I thought the game was over, but it was only the end of the third quarter. Miami was ahead in the score, and I knew Dallas was going to lose.

Thanks, Mom.

To jumpstart the A's, I'm bringing back Tanner Boyle to guest blog tomorrow. Here's hoping for the best.

(Game experience: Radio)

A's record: 38-33 | streak: L-2 | well-A-meter: 2

Game #71: A's 0, Rockies 7

June 19, 2006 | A's @ Colorado

What a big letdown! The 10-game winning streak ends when the A's can't score a single run.

• My favorite, Dan Haren, falls to 6-6. Yes, he gave up a two-run HR in the bottom of the 1st, but the five other runs are not his fault. And when you get zero run support, how can anyone expect you to win?

• I'm disappointed by Swisher's fielding error, though the guy doesn't err much. I'm much more disappointed about Crosby grounding into a double play in the top of the 8th that killed the A's rally.

• And Mike Rouse's leaping catches continue to dazzle. He looks like Ashton Kutcher... And let me get something straight: when I say a baseball player resembles a good-looking movie actor, I mean it as a compliment whether or not I like the movie actor. I do it as a cultural gesture that I know you'd get.

• Jay Witasick, tsk, tsk. I don't like this guy. Last year in Baltimore, I went to BP and witnessed Witasick asking a little boy questions that had to be answered correctly before Witasick would autograph a baseball. He asked the kid, "What's my birthday?" Of course the kid couldn't answer! Who cares when your birthday is, Jay Witasick, you're not Barry Zito!

So then he asked, "What day of the week is it?" Eventually he autographed the baseball, but I think he's a jerk. So Witasick's performance tonight -- a third of an inning, three walks and a hit, four earned runs -- matches my contempt for him.

• And I don't know where to begin with Scott Sauerback. So let me just end instead by saying he better pitch phenomenally well if he doesn't want to be continually mocked for his May 30 arrest due to fleeing and hiding in the bushes when police came after him and the drunk woman who was driving his car.

For giving up a hit and a walk and getting NO outs for the A's in that horrible 8th inning, here's Scott Sauerbeck's mug shot.


I'm not the first one to mock Sauerbeck in this blog. See Game 59.

(Game experience: Some radio then TV.)

A's record: 38-32 | streak: L-1 | well-A-meter: 2

Game #70: A's 5, Dodgers 2

June 18, 2006 | A's vs. Los Angeles

The A's have won 10 games in a row! It's a season-high streak not just for the A's, but for any team in the major leagues. Hmm, the All-Star Break is still three weeks away. But if the A's are going to amass victories even before the second half begins, I'll take it.

• Joe Blanton nearly pitched another complete game. He looked good! I think it's cool he got the win over Aaron Sele even if Sele is already at the beginning of a decline. Blanton got two Dodgers on base in the 9th and no outs so Macha brings in Huston Street. To get his 17th save, Street gets Jeff Kent to hit the ball directly to Mike Rouse (more on Rouse later). Ha ha! I don't like Jeff Kent, shown here being choked by Barry Bonds.


• Bobby Kielty's triple brought the A's score to five runs. And Kielty also made a great throw from right field to Bobby Crosby to get an out.

• Marco Scutaro plays third base as Chavy DH-es. And as usual Scoot calls attention to himself by going 3-for-4, with one run and an RBI. I think it was Scoot's foul ball that went to the left field seats and lodged itself into a fan's cowbell. TV announcer Glen Kuiper gushed over it and the cameras showed the fan unsuccessfully trying to get the ball out. It even made Baseball Tonight's Web Gems.

• Mike Rouse. Who is this guy? He's so new he doesn't have a player card on ESPN.com. He made an impressive leaping catch in the 9th. And he's cute, too!



• Nomar Garciaparra has the only HR of the game. He currently leads the NL in batting average. But I can only feel sorry for the guy. I think it's tragic that after spending a decade with the Red Sox, he gets traded two months before Boston wins the World Series. If it were me, I'd need more than Mia Hamm and a consolation WS ring to make me feel better.


(Game experience: Action 36 Cable 6)

A's record: 38-31 | streak: W-10 | well-A-meter: 4

Game #69: A's 5, Dodgers 4

June 17, 2006 | A's vs. Los Angeles

One of my favorite game-ending plays: the walk-off walk! I'm exhausted! I started watching the game on TV in the 5th inning, not knowing it would go on for 12 more.

My heroes for this game:

• Kirk Saarloos. Part of me is surprised that Saarloos still has a spot in the rotation. For a relief pitcher, he certainly gets many opportunities to start — and shine. This time, Saarloos gets into a pitchers' duel with Derek Lowe. He gives up only two earned runs while Lowe gives up four, but this is almost forgotten over the course of a 17-inning game.

• Marco Scutaro. I haven't put the spotlight on Scoot in a long time, but I still like him. Just when it seems like he's being written off by everyone, he comes through when the A's need him. Case in point: the bottom of the 17th opens with his single.

• Bobby Crosby. I've also cooled off of Crosby this season, but tonight he charms me anew with his pivotal double in the 8th.

• Brad Halsey. 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER. I'm going to say something that sounds really obvious: in extra inning games, it's imperative that the pitcher keeps the opponents from scoring. Five innings is a long time to pitch when they're extra. Halsey even loads the bases at one point, but gets out of it.

I also wanted to tip my hat to:

• Kenny Lofton. Of course I recognize his name from his days with the Giants, but I didn't realize the guy's 39 years old already. The old man gets a triple off Huston Street that ties the game in the 9th.

• Derek Lowe. Still a good pitcher.

• Rafael Furcal. Three stolen bases! And it's not that Kendall wasn't trying either.

• Olmedo Saenz. Soft spot in my heart for this ex-Athletic fastball hitter. I was at the 2002 post-season game where he hurt his Achilles heel and after that, if I recall right, Saenz didn't get a chance to play for the A's again. At the time I thought the injury would be career-ending so it's always nice to see him still around.

Thank goodness the A's winning streak continues or I'd never hear the end of it from Tanner Boyle. Nine games in a row! A season high.

(Game experience: Action 36 Cable 6)

A's record: 37-31 | streak: W-9 | well-A-meter: 4

Game #68: A's 7, Dodgers 3

June 16, 2006 | A's vs. Los Angeles (N)

Barry Zito was the star of the show tonight. Big strikeout pitchers are fun to watch. Zito is particularly entertaining because he makes guys look absolutely foolish with his Bugs Bunny curve ball and change up. Most impressive to me was that after walking 7 in his last outing, he walk no one tonight while throwing a comfortable 110 pitches.

Offensively, Melheuse and Payton had three hits with Chavez and Kielty adding two each.

Payton is now offically on fire. Jay is hitting 382/400/618 for the month of June. In the last 10 days he has added 30 points to his batting average and is hitting 277 for the season.

Nice to see Chavez go deep. He only has two extra base hits this month, both homers.

Winning streak explained...
On TV they threw up a graphic that explained the hot streak pretty clearly.

• Since May 31, the A's were 12-2 with a team ERA of 2.89 and they were scoring 4.8 runs per game.
• Prior to May 31, they were 23-29 with a team ERA of 4.59 and they were scoring 4.5 runs per game.

Although I am feeling much better about our hitting, the improvement is not too dramatic. However the pitching has been outstanding.

2006 A's comparison...
These numbers and the way the A's have been scoring runs made be think of them as being comparable to last year's Chicago White Sox, a team with great pitching and a mediocre offense that hit plenty of home runs.

* Ahead of Boston, New York and Texas.
** They were 3 runs allowed out of 1st.

While I am not saying that this is a World Series winning team, I do think that we have a style of play that can go far. The A's are playing classic Earl Weaver baseball: pitching, hitting and three run homers.

I am optimistic we can improve on our pitching. We have only had two good Loaiza starts and very little Harden and Duchscherer. There is room to improve there. Yes we need a little luck with Harden.

Offensively, Swisher is the the only positive surprise but we don't really know where his level is yet in the majors. So I am hopeful for some upside in the runs scored department.

Tomorrow is another day...
The matchup is Saarloos versus Derek Lowe. Lowe has great numbers this year: 2.83 ERA, 1.18 WHIP. He is also a sinkerball pitcher so you will see the A's beating the ball into the ground all day long. Saarloos is also gets a lot of ground balls so I predict a long day for the worms in the Oakland infield.

If Saarloos doesn't give up any home runs and we play good defense, we have a shot.

(Game experience: TV)

A's record: 36-31 | streak: W-8

Game #67: A's 9, Mariners 6

June 15, 2006 | A's vs. Seattle

First Place!
The new hotness: A's fever! If you are reading this blog I am pretty sure you had it anyway. Seven straight wins, sweep the Yankees, sweep the Mariners, bring on the Dodgers!

Today's game...
The Mexican Sammy Hagar started today and throwing out the errors threw a decent game: 6 IP, 91 pitches, 6 hits, 3 ER. I will take it. At the beginning of the year, I just wanted 200 IP of 4-4.5 ERA from Loaiza.

Dan Johnson is en fuego, 4 for 4, 4 RBIs. For the month of June he is hitting 484/528/1000 (BA/OBP/SLG) for an OPS of 1528. He has added 40 points to his batting average (he added 19 points just today) this month. This is great stuff.

Jay Payton getting three hits is a nice sign, Kielty homers and even Antonio Perez walked twice today.

The only downside I noticed in the box score: Crosby has already made 10 errors. That caught me off guard especially considering his limited play.

Quick thoughts on the Dodgers...
These guys are good. Although they have a similar record to the A's, the Dodgers actually are one of the most well-rounded team in baseball. They are 4th in the majors in runs scored and 8th best in runs allowed. The A's are twenty-fifth and fifth respectively. In June they are 6-7. The A's are 11-2.

I like the match-up tomorrow: Zito vs. Brett Tomko (consider him Jarrod Washburn South).

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind...
Tomorrow is my last day as substitute blogger. I have to admit I am a little bit nervous. The problem is this: every time I have written for this blog, the A's have won. This becomes a problem if the person you are filling in for is superstitious and would make you keep blogging through the rest of the streak. That won't happen to me, will it?

One for the boys...

Occasionally in the blog, you see some pink text and maybe a discussion of the aesthetic merits of Dan Haren, Richie Sexson or whomever has caught Wella's eye.

In the spirit of fair play, I wanted to post a few pics of some semi-baseball related hotties to balance the scales (on this blog only - I can do nothing about the rest of the universe).

The best I could do: Cat Osterman, gold medal winning pitcher for the USA women's softball team and Hazel Mae, Boston Red Sox post-game show hostess.

I will also add Kim Ng, assistant GM for the Los Angeles Dodgers, seen here with former A's front office star, Paul DePodesta. She is odds on favorite to be the first female GM in baseball. Her claim to fame is winning an arbitration case for the Yankees over Mariano Rivera.

(Game experience: Caught a snippet of the game on KOMO in Seattle and a peek at Gameday here and there)

A's record: 35-31 | streak: W-7

Game #66: A's 7, Mariners 2

June 14, 2006 | A's vs. Seattle

I write this entry from enemy territory. I flew up to Seattle tonight for work so I missed most of the game. I caught about five minutes of the game via my laptop and MLB.com. When I got my rental car, the only sports talk I could find was KNBR of all things. The deplorable Damon Bruce was dissecting Barry Bond's swing. Oh the humanity!

A look through the box score shows the following: Haren did not have his best stuff. Lots of base runners early but he ended up retiring 12 in a row at one point and it sounds like the defense was strong. That says alot about Dan Haren that he can be off and give up one run over 7 innings, even though he is facing the meek Mariners.

Kendall and Kielty drive in two runs each and DJ gets a hit. Nice to see the bottom of the line up produce.

The only downer of the night was Frank Thomas going out with an injury. I heard half a quote on ESPN that he thought it would take a while. Rotoworld.com is reporting that he will go on the DL as we start our interleague run. That cushions the blow a bit but I was slightly curious to see if we would given Frank a chance in the field if he were healthy, that had some entertainment possibilities.

But we are hot. A half game out. Tomorrow is a big game. If Loaiza is strong for us, I will be tempted to break out the Well-a-meter and put up a number that has not been seen this season. Alas, the editor-in-chief forbids my use of her patented baseball barometer.

(Game experience: A quick peak at MLB.com in the airport and then after the game)

A's record: 34-31 | streak: W-6

Game #65: A's 2, Mariners 0

June 13, 2006 | A's vs. Seattle

Live from Section 121 I got to witness a very entertaining pitcher's duel between the ancient Mariner, Jamie Moyer and Country Joe Blanton.

Joe Blanton...
Joe Blanton looked good. How often do you say that? I wish I were smart enough to tell you why he was so effective tonight. He looked confident. He was firing his fastball in for strikes and landing a nice big slow curve ball effectively. Blanton allowed five hits, struck out two but walked no one. He had thrown 80 pitches through 8 innings. Efficient.

In his last six starts he has given up the following for earned runs: 2 (SEA), 5 (SF), 2 (@TEX), 0 (KC), 6 (@CLE), 0 (SEA). Joe Blanton pitching log.

One observation is that he beat up on the bad teams, except the two runs at Texas (he actually pitched poorly in that start). If you see Joe throwing first pitch strikes and limiting the free passes, he should be on his way to a strong start.

Jay Payton...
Hits a home run and scores the other run after going two for three. Payton also made a cracker jack defensive play (one of three excellent defensive plays that I can recall from the evening) in the sixth inning, a very nice over the shoulder catch on a Jeremy Reed line drive that could easily have ended up a triple.

Payton frustrates me. Having to regularly trot out Payton or Kielty shows off one of the A's weaknesses: the inability to find dynamic offensive players in the corner outfield and corner infield positions, Eric Chavez excluded.

In fantasy land, we have Swisher playing at his current level, Bradley flirting with 30 homers with a 380 OBP and Dan Johnson driving in 95 runs. If that happens and we get decent pitching we are World Series contenders.

Jay Payton is a nice fourth outfielder due to his defensive skills, position flexibility and he can get hot as a hitter. If you are counting on a Jay Payton, an Eric Byrnes or a Bobby Kielty to hold down your corner outfielder spots, beware and let us never mention Scott Hatteberg at first base.

Jamie Moyer...
My favorite part of baseball is watching pitchers. It was a treat to see Jamie Moyer. He is a craftsman. The fastest pitch he threw was 83 mph. The slowest pitch was 61 and Bobby Crosby crushed it about 400 feet but 30 feet foul. One of the more amusing outs of the night was Moyer coaxing the most pathetic little bleeder out of Frank Thomas. I have never seen a ball hit so gently. It would not have broken a plate of ribbon candy.

Worth mentioning...
- Bobby Crosby made a slick barehanded play to get the speedy Adrian Beltre out in the first.

- Milton Bradley made a miraculous catch of a flyball in the third. Ichiro! hit a flyball to right that seemed like it might leave the park. Bradley is tracking it and seems settled under it but then makes a crazy stab in the air and pockets the out. I guess he lost it on the way down. The best part is that the A's were on the dugout steps ready to give him a hard time and he just pulled his hat down low and wouldn't look at anyone as he walked into the dugout.

- Huston Street. Awesome. Comes in with two on. No outs. Hits the first batter. Strikes out two and induces a lazy fly ball to gete his fifth save in five games. The last Oakland closer to do that: Billy Koch.

(Game experience: Section 121)

A's record: 33-31 | streak: W-5

Game #64: A's 6, Yankees 5

June 11, 2006 | A's @ New York (A)

SWEEP!!!
What a great result. Three games in Yankee Stadium, three wins for the good guys. This was a great win for a number of reasons: Zito did not have his great stuff, Dan Johson hit two homers, Swisher's inside the park home run and we sweep the Yankees. The sweep leaves us one and a half games behind the Rangers and they still have one more game to play against the Red Sox tonight.

Barry Zito...
I had concerns about Zito being tired coming in today and he threw what was ultimately a bizarre outing. 30 pitches and two runs in the first. Innings 2-4 he throws a total of 25 pitches. Then 23 pitches in the fifth giving up 3 more runs.

I give Zito credit, he made it through 7 innings, 105 pitches, surrendered 7 walks but he delivered us to our red hot bullpen and got the win. With a day off tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if they keep Zito on five days rest this week or give him an extra day off.

Nick Swisher...
Hits a fly ball to left center in the bottom of the third, Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon collide as they each try to make the catch. The ball rolls to the ground and Swisher circles the bases safely. TV had and excellent replay of Swisher gamely running out what seemed a routine flyball, realizing the ball hit the ground and picking up steam, then to his surprise seeing Wash wave him home before sliding in safely thanks to a high bounce on the throw home. Great stuff.

Dan Johnson...
Two home runs today raises his slugging average for the month to 958 and hitting 434. I declare DJ officially hot.

Right now we have DJ and Frank Thomas hot with Swisher and Chavez cooling off. It would be nice to pick up a third musketeer to go with DJ and Thomas. Swisher hit the ball well today but it would be nice to see Bradley or perhaps Crosby shows us a burst of offense.

Coming up...
The A's are on a roll. Winning 5 of 6 on the road trip against the two best offenses in baseball. Monday is an off day and then three games versus the Mariners.

Seattle has also won 8 of their last 10, beating the Angels, Royals and Twins. These are three of the four worst teams in the league. Interesting to consider the Angels as one of the worst teams in the league.

Get ready though because after the Seattle series we go into five interleague series: Los Angeles Dodgers, @ Colorado, @ San Francisco, @ San Diego and Arizona. The NL West features four teams at or above 500 and the Rockies not too far below. It will be July before we see another American League team.

(Game experience: Fox Sports Bay Area)

A's record: 32-31 | streak: W-4

Game #63: A's 5, Yankees 2

June 10, 2006 | A's @ New York (A)

Another tough match-up for the A's, our sixth starter against Mike Mussina, arguably the best pitcher in the American League so far this year.

The lineup looks a little better today and we get off to a fast start with a two-run homer by Frank Thomas in the top of the first. He is tied with Swisher for the team lead at 16. Last year only Chavez (27) and Swisher (21) hit more than 15 home runs.

Saarloos limited the Yankees to 4 hits in six innings. He got the Yankees to ground out on 12 of 16 balls in play. For Saarloos to limit the Yankees to two runs is just plain lucky. Non-strikeout pitchers need to have great control and Saarloos walked 3 while striking out 2. If you are only going to strikeout two batters you better not walk anyone, ask Minnesota's Carlos Silva.

Notes from the game...
- Kotsay steals two bases. It seems like he knew that Mussina and Posada had no hope of throwing him out.

- We should be thankful for our announcing team. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are tough enough but the inning with Danny DeVito and Michael Milken was beyond annoying.

- At the end of 5 innings, Mussina was at 99 pitces and we were an inning away from getting to the soft Yankees' bullpen. In the sixth inning we go down on eight pitches and follow that up by making three outs on five pitches in the seventh.

- Boy wonder Mike Rouse singles in his second at-bat of the game and drives in two runs. He ends the day 1 for 4.

- Nick Swisher sacrifices in the eighth with one on and no out. The crack announcing team talks about how this is so unexpected for a "Moneyball" team. I consider shooting my television. While I don't necessarily like the play, it annoys me to no end that the idiot announcers like to think of Moneyball as a set of sacrosanct rules. It is good to play out of character.

- Huston Street is perfect again in the ninth. Three saves in three days.

- Best of all we have pulled our record to .500. 31-31. We have won eight of our last 10. Two games out of first place.

- Sunday's game brings us a favorable pitching matchup: Zito vs Chacon. Good times. There is something I want to mention here, but I won't.

(Game experience: Fox National Broadcast mixed with MLB.com Gamecast depending on what was happening in the World Cup)

A's record: 31-31 | streak: W-3

Game #62: A's 6, Yankees 5

June 9, 2006 | A's @ New York (A)

With regards to the A's, I try to be an optimist. Right now, I know Blanton is not getting it done and every Saarloos start is a coin toss. The bullpen has been savaged by injuries. The hitting is underperforming but we have the makings of a solid offense if everyone would just get healthy. Things could be better.

However, when I saw tonight's starting line-up I was depressed. Jay Payton batting third? Bobby Kielty batting fifth? Our infield was Swisher, Rouse (who?), Scutaro and Antonio Perez. Are you kidding me? The opposing pitcher: Randy Johnson. I think of him as a wounded lion. His health is not perfect. He is old, but still dangerous. How are we going to score runs?

Alas my momentary depression was soothed by the fact that our best, healthy pitcher was throwing, Dan Haren. Over his last five starts, he has a 2.05 ERA. Dan Haren, our best hope to hang in there against the best offense in baseball, a New York Yankee team that had shrugged off their own incredible string of injuries to win 9 of their last 12 games.

Chicks still dig the longball...
Frank Thomas leads off the second with his 15th home run of the season and I am glad we have a lead for Haren. Bobby Kielty and Antonio Perez each hit their first home run of the year in the fourth inning as Randy Johnson comes undone.

Now batting...Mike Rouse!
Mike Rouse is activated to fill our crumbling infield. A shortsop in Sacramento he is batting a pedestrian 273/363/399 (BA/OBA/SLG). However, tonight is his night. He starts his first game ever in Yankee Stadium, hears the legendary Yankee announcer, Bob Shepherd, say his name. He gets a hit off future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. Gets a second hit of Johnson. Steals a base. Scores two runs. 3-for-3 (first player since Ben Grieve to get three hits in his MLB debut), batting 1.000. Awesome!

Dan Haren, our ace?
Haren had thrown 122 pitches in each of his last two starts. He looked pretty good but when he missed he seemed to miss badly. Ken Korach thought he had the best movement he had seen on his fastball all year.

In the sixth inning, there are two outs, runners on first and second and Bernie Williams at the plate. Macha comes out for a gut check, just as he did with Zito a few nights ago. He asks Haren if he can get the out. Haren tells Macha what he wants to hear but gives up a single anyway. Can Haren say" no thanks, I am beat"? No. Does Macha think they will tell the truth? Do the pitchers think they have to say yes? Luckily Payton keeps A-Rod from scoring and Gaudin comes in to get the third out.

At this point, with Harden's season in doubt, I think Haren is our best pitcher. Zito has been excellent but I always have the thought that he might get shelled, perhaps too many memories of 2004. One game to win at all, right now, I would rather have Haren pitch. No bevvy of stats to back it up, just a feeling.

And then it rained...
The speed and ferocity of the rain caught me off guard. One hour and twenty-seven minutes later the tarp was pulled.

I missed the restart, as I was writing this. MLB.com Gameday shows that the game restart and former A's hero Jason Giambi dumps the second pitch from Brad Halsey in the seats. 6-4. The Yankees add another run but Calero and Street go an inning each without allowing a base runner to preserve the win.

(Game experience: Mostly TV but a bit of radio while running errands and Gameday to catch me up and check the facts)

A's record: 30-31 | streak: W-2

Game #61: A's 4, Indians 1

June 8, 2006 | A's @ Cleveland

It was strange listening to the game start on the radio while commuting to work instead of from work. Yes, we did win today, but the news about Rich Harden's return to the DL puts a damper on the whole lot.

But there was some good news: Esteban Loaiza didn't disappoint in his return from the DL. Against the Cleveland Indians, the second-best offense in baseball, he pitched seven innings with four hits, five Ks, one walk, and one earned run. Best of all, he threw only 77 pitches of which 59 were strikes.

* * *

Finally, I'm about to leave for vacation! It is a real vacation because where I'm going there will be no news about the A's. Let's see if I can come back alive.

While I'm away, Oakland Athletics Journal will be left in the capable hands of Tanner Boyle. His nom de plume is borrowed from the memorable character played by Chris Barnes in the 1976 film classic The Bad News Bears.

Our Tanner Boyle was a life long Yankees fan who saw the light in 2003 and jumped on the A's bandwagon. His goal in life is to track down the surviving members of the Fikac Force and, like all A's fans, he still Fears Mecir.

Please give Tanner the devoted attention you've been giving me. He knows a heckuva lot more than I do about baseball and, as a recovered Yankees fan, he'll certainly have interesting things to say about the upcoming series.

Go A's!

(Game experience: Some radio, some MLB Gameday, mostly word-of-mouth.)

A's record: 29-31 | streak: W-1 | well-A-meter: 2

Game #60: A's 2, Indians 11

June 7, 2006 | A's @ Cleveland

My vacation doesn't start till this weekend, but Tanner Boyle has gotten himself warmed up to cover for me by guest blogging the last couple of days. But today you get me and I'm not in a good mood.

• Joe Blanton is like some kind of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. Last time he started, I was raving about his complete game shutout and declaring undying loyalty... Well, that loyalty is wavering. Five innings, 10 hits, six earned runs? Call me shallow.

• The Return of Milton Bradley: I was all excited about Milton Bradley in April, then he got injured and disappeared for a long time. Now he's back, goes 1-4, gets booed by Cleveland fans (he used to play there), and I'm all blank. I feel like a jilted girlfriend. Bradley earned my love. Now he has to earn it back.

(And while we're speaking of lost love, I'm suprise myself at how indifferent I am to Bobby Kielty. Is it just 'cause he shaved his head? Am I really that shallow?)

• The Return of Jay Witasick: Witasick's performance tonight produced a game ERA of 10.12. Maybe he's not ready to come back...

• Coming up next: The Return of Esteban Loaiza. Like Harden, Loaiza has missed the entire month of May and then some. Are you holding your breath like I am to see if Loaiza will have one start — just a single one! — that answers why Billy Beane gave him a $20 million three-year contract.

(Game experience: Some radio.)

A's record: 28-31 | streak: L-1 | well-A-meter: 2

Game #59: A's 7, Indians 6

June 06, 2006 | A's @ Cleveland

The A's are in Cleveland after their first day off in three weeks. The game starts off with a Kotsay home run and with our hottest pitcher going, I am happy I left work early to catch the game.

Barry Zito is dealin'...
1.13 ERA in his last 7 starts. Over that stretch he faced (runs scored ranking - MLB): @ Angels (22), D-Rays (27), @Yankees (1), Seattle (17), @ White Sox (6), @ Rangers (12), Twins (26).

Facing the second best offense in baseball, Zito is not his freshest this evening but still stikes out 6 in 7 innings. Runs five and six came after the A's could not make some tough defensive play in the fifth inning (Chavez) and sixth (Johnson). Five of the six Cleveland runs come with two outs.

Three starts ago versus Texas, Zito threw a career-high 126 pitches, 99 versus Minnesota, 122 tonight. Keep an eye out in his next start versus New York to see if he is tired.

Frank Thomas is H-O-T and Dan Johnson is rounding into form?
In the last month, not counting tonight, the Big Hurt has delivered: BA: 294, On-base: 442, Slugging: 676 = 1118 OPS. Dan Johnson gets the game winning hit, thanks to a Crosby stolen base. DJ has added 33 points to his batting average in the last two weeks to reach .212. Congrats?

Chicks dig the long ball...
Through 58 games the A's have 73 home runs. Through 57 games last year we had 36. Swisher tied for 3rd, Thomas 12th, Chavez 13th in the AL.

Calero coming on strong...
Through his last 7 games: 7.1 IP, 6 hits, 0 walks (the best part) and 8 Ks. This is good news. Street looked strong too. I think he got away with one to Aaron Boone and I was glad he did not have to pitch to Hafner.

Drunken shenanigans in Cleveland...
Chavez tied up the game by taking Scott Sauerbeck deep. Mr. Sauerbeck, owner of the worst mustache this side of Adam Morrison, got mixed up in some booze-fueled ridiculousness the other night. I know this because I am addicted to Deadspin.com. Deadspin delivers a steady stream of sports-related amusements. Add it to your favorite RSS reader and enjoy the Internet!


(Game experience: Fox Sports Bay Area)

A's record: 28-30 | streak: W-3

Game #58: A's 5, Twins 1 (by Tanner Boyle)

June 4, 2006 | A's vs. Minnesota

Here is my tryout piece to fill Wella's shoes while she takes off to parts unknown on vacation. Baseball is definitely my favorite sport but I do not share Wella's reverence for the game itself. I showed up in the top of the second (blame traffic) and left after the top half of the eighth (fear of traffic).

As a fan, I am a sabremetric wannabe. I try and drink up as much baseball nerdery as possible. Thoughts on today's game...

Rich Harden Returns
I always know that someone is not really paying attention to the A's when they refer to Barry Zito as our ace. Rich Harden is that guy and it was great to see him back in action. His last start was April 26.

Six strikeouts in 4 innings is great to see. He seemed to be mixing pitches between the low 80s and the mid 90s over his eighty pitches. Most impressive moment was blowing away one of the meager Twins batters with a 97 MPH high fastball. Far too often when Harden goes north of 95, he is nowhere near the strikezone. His last five outs were strikeouts. Good times.

Frank Thomas rumblin' bumblin' stumblin'....
In the bottom of the second, Frank Thomas broke his bat and sent a ball into the left field corner an easy double, for most pro athletes. However, the very large and old Frank Thomas was nearly thrown out at second base as he literally coasted to a stop at second base, barely ahead of the throw.

Two pitches later, Crosby singles and Thomas is waved home. The right fielder hits the cut off man and they had a decent shot at getting Thomas at the plate. However, the second baseman probably saved the equally fragile Joe Mauer from getting killed. The Big Hurt scores but calls it a day with a sore foot. I really hope he is not out for any extended amount of time. We need sluggers in the lineup, badly.

Speaking of slugging...
I went to the Friday game and today's game and mocked the anemic Twins lineup through both games. They have Mauer and Hunter and nothing else. As of today the Twins have scored more runs thatn the A's. We are 25th of 30 teams in baseball in runs scored, the Twins are 24th.

So what do we have in our lineup. OPS (Definition) of today's starting line up. Note that the league average OPS is 750.

Today's Starting Lineup
Kendall - 690
Swisher - 1006 (Anything over 1000 is elite. Sixth in the AL)
Chavez - 893
Thomas - 841
Crosby - 703
Payton - 606
Johnson - 581
Kielty - 610
Scutaro - 469

Additionally:
Kotsay - 724
Ellis - 624
Bradley - 779

The upside is that hopefully we swap out Bradley for Kielty. Kotsay is an upgrade over Payton. Baseball Prospectus says that DJ should be over 800 for the year. Just like last year, there is no way we can hit this poorly for much longer. Could good times be ahead?

I am certainly upbeat because the pitching is coming together. Harden is back. I like Halsey in the bullpen. Maybe Calero is pulling it together. Witasick back this week. Loaiza was touching the 90s in his last outing. Street can only do better. Best of all I saw our 2005 All-Star, Justin Duchscherer sporting the bottom half of a goatee in the bullpen. I pray this is done for some upcoming commercial.

News and Moves...
Matt Roney sent down to Sacramento to make room for Jay Witasick. Jeremy Brown is now oh-for-Oakland. No appearances in two trips to the Show. Bradley scheduled to return Wednesday. Loaiza possible for Thursday.

(Game experience: Sec 121, Row 6, Seat 12 )

A's record: 27-30 | streak: W-2

Game #58: A's 5, Twins 1

June 4, 2006 | A's vs. Minnesota

I hope Celeste made it to the Coliseum for this game. I couldn't; I had a prior commitment so I totally missed Rich Harden's return.

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
R Harden	4.0	4	1	1	3	6	1	79-49	3.86
B Halsey (W, 3-2)	5.0	2	0	0	1	0	0	55-35	3.93

When the game was over, I heard on the radio that Brad Halsey got the win. For the second day in a row. Way to go, Halsey!

And speaking of missing games, I'm going on vacation soon and my baseball buddy Tanner Boyle is generously stepping up to be the guest blogger. More details to come.

(Game experience: Missed it!)

A's record: 27-30 | streak: W-2 | well-A-meter: 3

Game #57: A's 2, Twins 1

June 3, 2006 | A's vs. Minnesota

This series with the Twins is turning out to be a showcase for some really good baseball. Since Wednesday we've seen pitchers' duels, low-scoring one-run games, nine innings within two hours, strikeouts aplenty, DPs when needed... and the weather has been beautiful to boot.

I'm sorry to have missed Dan Haren's start: six innings of shutout ball with six Ks, three hits, two walks. Macha kept him in there for 122 pitches.

I did get to listen on the radio when Macha brought Huston Street in to get the last six outs. It was great to hear the crowd going wild after he struck out Justin Morneau in the 8th. Street seems to be okay after all.

And there's still one more game in the series with Rich Harden returning to the rotation after missing all of the month of May and then some.

(Game experience: Listened to last two innings on KYCY 1550 AM.)

A's record: 26-30 | streak: W-1 | well-A-meter: 3

Game #56: A's 1, Twins 2

June 2, 2006 | A's vs. Minnesota

What did we expect? For me it was either:

A. Johan Santana dominates and the Twins win which would be cool to watch.

B. Johan Santana implodes and the A's win which would be cool to watch.

C. Kirk Saarloos surprises everyone and the A's win which would be cool to watch.

Well, the A's didn't win, but for several innings there Saarloos was impressive. A pitcher with something to prove. But for one mistake pitched to Twins 1B Justin Morneau.

Saarloos got all our hopes up for option C so when option A happened, it didn't seem that cool after all.

Saarloos: 8 IP, 5 hits, 3 walks, and that one fatal two-run HR. I looked and Saarloos has only pitched more than eight innings just three times since coming up four years ago; all were wins. Two of them were last year. He usually pitches six innings, maybe seven. He's not really a starter.

Perhaps being pitted against the 2004 AL Cy Young Award winner made Saarloos rise to the challenge.

Or perhaps Macha should've gone by the numbers and gotten the bullpen ready a lot sooner.

(Game experience: Went to the game with Tanner Boyle who gave me great in-game commentary. I was in Sec. 117 Row 30 Seat 3. Superb view behind home plate. Superb, that is, until a big hulk of a guy sat right in front of me in the first inning.)

A's record: 25-30 | streak: L-1 | well-A-meter: 3

Special Edition: Vote for the All-Star Game for pete's sake!

The early results of the All-Star ballots are in and NO ONE FROM THE OAKLAND A'S IS ON THERE! Instead, there are a bunch of Yankees, Red Sox, and Braves Cardinals players.

I voted a while back and I urge you to vote as well.

In fact, here's exactly what you need to do to put in 25 votes, the maximum number of votes per email address.

1. Go to this link and click on Vote Now.

2. Fill in a First Name, Last Name, Zip Code, Email Address, and Birthdate. When I did it, I put in one of my Gmail addresses specifically for junk mail and I reduced my birthday by 5 years or something.

3. Enter the Validation Key.

4. Unclick the two boxes to opt OUT of receiving emails from MLB.com or Monster.com. Another precaution, but if they do sell my email address, it's a junk one anyway.

5. Select "Athletics" from the dropdown menu for My Favorite Clubs.

6. Click on Vote Now.

7. For the American League All-Star Team, please consider voting for:

• D. Johnson, OAK for 1B
• M. Ellis, OAK for 2B
• B. Crosby, OAK for SS
• E. Chavez, OAK for 3B
• J. Kendall, OAK for C
• M. Bradley, OAK for OF
• M. Kotsay, OAK for OF
• J. Payton, OAK for OF

If you want to write-in Nick Swisher, see below and remove one of the above outfielders.

8. In the write-in area, please consider entering this info:
First Name: Nick
Last Name: Swisher
Select "Athletics" from the dropdown menu
Select "Outfield" from the dropdown menu
However, if you do so you'll have too many outfielder votes.

9. Click Submit and then select your choices for the National League All-Star Team.

10. Click Submit and you're done. You now have the option to Vote Again. Click on the Vote Again button and you'll be back at Step 1, above. However this time you only need to enter the new Validation Key and uncheck the options to receive emails. From here on in, you can quickly Vote Now, Go, Submit, and Vote Again over and over until you've voted 25 times. A pop-up window will tell you so.

Yes, I voted 25 times. Hee hee.

I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I did my part to get out the vote. Thanks for your time.

Game #55: A's 4, Twins 0

June 1, 2006 | A's vs. Minnesota

BOOF BONSER! His name was ringing in my ears during the pre-game show.

After the game started, I went to run an errand in a place with no radio reception and next thing I know, Street's closing and the A's have their second shutout in a row. I can't keep up with these guys! The game was over in two hours (actually 1:57).

Zito was solid and I was fortunate to be listening when he garnered his 1,000th strikeout (of course, he used his curveball). Calero continues to be dependable. And all the runs in the game were generated by homers. Incredible!

It truly is the month of June.

(Game experience: Bits of KYCY 1550 AM.)

A's record: 25-29 | streak: W-2 | well-A-meter: 3