Game #120: A's 11, Mariners 2

August 15, 2006 | A's vs. Seattle

Bottom of the 4th: Logging on to see how the boys are doing and I'm in time for the 4th inning.

Two outs from that DP and Mariners starter Joel Pineiro is giving up a ton of walks and hits! Five runs scored in a matter of minutes. Amazing. A's 9, Mariners 0.

Top of the 5th: Betancourt homers. Hey, what's going on here, Saarloos? The Mariners aren't supposed to be scoring in this game... A's 9, Mariners 1.

Top of the 6th: Apparently the Mariners aren't going to roll over even though the A's have beat them 13 games in a row. Jose Lopez doubles, moves to third on a wild pitch (Saarloos!!!), then scores with Adrian Beltre's base hit. A's 9, Mariners 2.

Bottom of the 6th: Ah, I needn't worry. The A's can do no wrong. Jake Woods is pitching for Seattle. He intentionally walks Jay Payton to load the bases, but an out later, he unintentionally walks Scutaro and it's now A's 10, Mariners 2. Now I know why they call games like this a "laugher."

Top of the 7th: Jay Witasick takes over for Kirk Saarloos. And somewhere in the East Bay my mother is yelling, NOOOOOOoooooo! Fortunately for Witasick, though he gives up a single and a walk, no damage is done by Seattle. It is an eight-run lead after all. A's 10, Mariners 2.

Top of the 8th: Scott Sauerbeck takes over from Jay Witasick. Have I forgiven Sauerbeck yet? Um, maybe not. I'm blaming him (and Witasick) for my Brad Halsey going down to the minors! A's 10, Mariners 2.

Bottom of the 8th: Tanner Boyle IMs, "[W]e are bringing in our scrubs and they brought in their closer."

I can't believe this! Scutaro singles and JayPay scores. Good golly! After all those one-run games, after all those wins with less than three runs, our cup overfloweth. Let's not spend it all in one place, boys! A's 11, Mariners 2.

Top of the 9th: I'm shutting down my computer soon to take a walk. I think it's pretty safe for me to shut down, don't you think? Kiko Calero is coming on and there's already one out.

I really like these home wins. I really like it when the A's get to finish the game without having to play the bottom of the 9th. I think they all must like going home early, including the fans and especially the Coliseum crew.

Two outs.

It must be what it's like for us cubicle rats when it's a Friday afternoon and the boss says we can go home at 2 PM and start an early weekend.

Game over. A's 11, Mariners 2.


(Game experience: Monitoring MLB.com Gameday from a cafe in North Oakland)

A's record: 67-52 | streak: W-5 | well-A-meter: 4