Game #95: A's 5, Orioles 4

July 18, 2006 | A's @ Baltimore

Argh...I haven't been able to watch baseball lately. This is not related to my vow to not attend a baseball game for two weeks (the two weeks that the A's are away, heh heh). So I missed an interesting game today.

• Bobby Crosby and Mark Ellis back-to-back runs. It's very disappointing to learn that Crosby's last HR before today was May 31. Golly, was it really that long?

• Esteban Loaiza got a win! I'm not all that impressed by his line — 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR — but what the heck. It wasn't bad for a game with an hour-plus rain delay around the 3rd. Loaiza reportedly pitched better after the delay than before.

Esteban Loaiza, originally uploaded by scarls13.

• But I do like Loaiza for his wit. MLB.com's Mychael Urban wrote:

"We will start having an hour between innings [when Loaiza pitches]," said Macha.

Responded a smiling Loaiza, "Good. That will give them time to stop his nose from bleeding."

• This I'm sorry I missed: due to a throwing error by Orioles righty Eddy Rodriguez, Jay Payton scores the go-ahead run.

• This one-run win is the 19th for the A's this season. Also a season-high for the American League this year.

• The Angels are only a half-game behind and the Rangers are one game behind. No kidding around. Every game counts.


(Game experience: None)

A's record: 49-45 | streak: W-1 | well-A-meter: 3