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