Game #80: A's 4, Diamondbacks 6

June 30, 2006 | A's vs. Arizona

Many happy returns of the day... not.

• The return of Eric Byrnes. His first time to play in the Coliseum wearing a Diamondbacks uniform. Unfortunately Steve, Suzanne and I were still making our way to our seats so we missed the first half-inning of the game. When Byrnsie was introduced I heard some cheers, but not quite a roar from the crowd.

In the top of the 7th, Byrnes was on third, Conor Jackson on second, two outs and I thought it would be poetic justice if Byrnsie got thrown out at home plate.

Flashback: Game 3 of the 2003 AL Division playoffs. Byrnsie is called out for not touching home plate. The A's lose that game and the next two to the Red Sox and our playoff bid is over. End of flashback.

Instead, Halsey throws a wild pitch and Byrnes scores a run for Arizona, breaking the 3-3 tie. Arizona would score a total of three runs in this inning.

So Halsey had a bad outing. I'm not giving up on him. Instead I'll blame Byrnes or Saarloos, even Melhuse or Estrada if I have to.

• The return of the Big Hurt! 1-for-3 and a strikeout. We pinned our hopes on him with each at-bat and his base hit was exciting for a single, but Frank Thomas's appearance tonight after missing 13 games couldn't turn the tide.

By the way, I think it's odd how several fans always cheer wildly for Frank Thomas. I know he's had an illustrious career blah blah blah, but to me he's a single-season serving of a player. Like a loaner. Think David Justice. I'll appreciate Thomas's contributions when he makes them, but... he'll always be a White Sox guy to me.

Steve, however, says we've already gotten our money's worth from him.

• The return of Mark Ellis! He recovered quickly from his broken thumb and the A's were eager to put him back in the line-up just within a month (May 31 to June 30). We had excellent seats along the first base line and Ellis looked good scooping up those grounders and throwing to first. There were a few speedsters that he couldn't get which made me think he's still easing back in, but there were no errors in the game.

• Kirk Saarloos hasn't been returned to the bullpen, I see.

• Adam Melhuse's hits came at times when the A's really needed to get something going. He always comes across to me as dependable and reliable — tonight he got a single, double, RBI. Hard to believe he actually broke a 0-for-14 hitless streak.

• With Thomas and Ellis back, Doug Clark and Mike Rouse returned to the Rivercats in Sacramento. Doug Clark had his first major league hit during this stint in the show. I doubt I'll see him again. Mike Rouse, however, was arousing.

• The Diamondbacks had a 5-20 month of June. The losing streak was attributed by some to the whole Jason Grimsley/HGH/FBI statement controversy. But, hey, any baseball team can have a bad month. It's a long season. Maybe what we saw last night was the Diamondbacks' return from the dead.


(Game experience: Sec 108 Row 15 Seat 9 — though I think I was actually sitting in Seat 11)

A's record: 42-37 | streak: L-1 | well-A-meter: 2