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