Game #129: A's 5, Rangers 3

August 26, 2006 | A's @ Texas

Spoiled!

That's what I am. As Joe Blanton puts up one goose egg after another for the first four innings while the A's build a four-run lead, I assume we have another game in the bag. How spoiled I've become. I expect the A's to win all the time.

Texas shakes me out of my complacency when the likable Michael Young and Carlos Lee double one after the other to get on the board in the 6th. But we get an insurance run and, yes, the A's win.

• I lost track of the number of times the A's loaded the bases in this game. Was it four? No grand slams though.

• It's a source of amusement to see the Big Hurt running from base to base. He can't go very fast, but he sure can hit.

• And Nick Swisher's leadoff home run in the 4th was thrilling!

• Marco Scutaro and Mark Ellis are our underappreciated infielders. Scoot went 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs. Ellis had a single and a double and his error today was his first error in something like 58 games.

• I vaguely remember Matt Stairs from his last year with the A's. To be exact, I mostly remember a sign in the right outfield seats that read, "HIT IT UP THE STAIRS MATT."

• Two rundowns against the A's: Ellis between third and home in the 4th (forceout) and Payton between first and second in the 9th (caught stealing). I find this unusual enough to note down.

• Blanton strikes out six in 6.2 innings and picks up his 14th win. Kiko Calero isn't solid, but Joe Kennedy and closer du jour Justin Duchscherer are. By the way, is it my imagination, is my memory failing me, or did Kennedy gain weight?

And here's an admittedly nonsense thought: why don't we reschedule the World Series for August when the A's are consistently hot?


(Game experience: FSN Bay Area)

A's record: 74-55 | streak: W-3 | well-A-meter: 5