Hello Again A’s fans, its’ Jordan here and am glad to report again that the A’s have continued their string of good play. They managed to win another series, their third consecutive series win, taking two of three from the Cleveland Indians. This is the second time that the A’s have won two out of three from Cleveland, as they won the set back in Oakland last week. I was very happy to be in the Bay Area with the way the weather was this weekend, rather then in Cleveland, it actually snowed during Sunday’s game in Ohio.
Friday night, the A’s jumped all over Indians’ starter, C.C. Sabathia for the second time this season. The A’s opened the scoring in the first inning on an RBI single by Mike Sweeney, that scored Emil Brown with two outs. Sweeney was thrown out at second trying to advance an extra base. The A’s busted it open early, with a five-run second frame. Jack Cust knocked in Bobby Crosby on a double to left to make the score 2-0. A few batters later, Cust scored on an RBI single by Chris Denorfia. Mark Ellis followed suit with an RBI double to left. Daric Barton hit his third double of the season to center, which scored another run, and the final run of the inning crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Mike Sweeney. The score was 6-0 after one and a half innings. The Indians pulled one back on a solo shot by Jhonny Peralta off of A’s starter Joe Blanton. Mark Ellis hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the third, and Sabathia’s struggles against the A’s continued. After two hits in the top of the fourth, Sabathia was pulled, and Donnie Murphy came up big with a two-out, two-run single, as all nine of those runs were charged to Sabathia. His final line in three and a third; nine earned runs on twelve hits.
At 9-1, it looked as if the A’s would roll to an easy victory, however, this was not the case. Joe Blanton was cruising, having tossed seven solid innings, giving up just one run, but then he ran into trouble in the eighth. David Dellucci led off the inning with a double, and scored on a Jason Michaels single. Blanton then recorded two outs, and seemed to run out of gas, as the Indians managed to rally when Travis Hafner hit another RBI single. Blanton came out with two men on, the score 9-3 and two outs. Fernando Hernandez was called on to get the last out, but he was unable to do so. He hit the first batter he faced, and then walked in a run when he faced his next hitter. Santiago Casilla was then called upon, but he gave up a two-run double to Ryan Garko, making it 9-6. The game was then halted for a while with a rain delay. After play resumed, and the Indians had the tying run at the plate, Huston Street came on to try and get a four-out save. He promptly threw a wild pitch, allowing Peralta to score Cleveland’s seventh run. He did get it together, and finished off the Indians in the eighth and ninth to get the save, and the A’s won their fourth straight game, 9-7. Blanton earned his first win, as he went seven and two-thirds innings, conceding five earned runs on eight hits. Bobby Crosby had a nice day, going 3-3 and walking twice, and scoring twice. Mark Ellis, Mike Sweeney, and Donnie Murphy knocked in two runs apiece. It was certainly nice to see the offense produce for Country Joe, as that had been an issue through his first three starts.
Saturday afternoon, the A’s were taking on Fausto Carmona, with Lenny Dinardo filling in for the spot start in Rich Harden’s place. 
They won their fifth straight game, with a 7-3 win. Oakland opened the scoring in the third inning with a two-out, two-run single by Daric Barton. Cleveland pulled a run back on an RBI ground-out by Casey Blake. Oakland got that run right back in the third, as they took advantage of four walks in the inning by Carmona, who walked eight on the day and was pulled after just three and a third innings. In the bottom of the fifth, the Indians pulled back to within one after Lenny Dinardo was pulled after five-plus innings. Joey Devine walked two, including one with the bases loaded, and that run was charged to Lenny D. Dinardo pitched very well, as he had only logged one inning before this game this year, and went five-plus, giving up two earned runs on six hits, and striking out three Cleveland hitters. Oakland put it away in the next half inning by hanging a four-spot on the board. Emil brown hit an RBI single, and then 
Bobby Crosby came up huge with a three-run blast to left field to put the A’s up 7-2. Andrew Brown went two good innings, and gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, as the A’s shut the door on yet another series victory with the 7-3 win. Mike Sweeney had two hits, Crosby knocked in those three runs, and Barton had his two RBI.
Sunday morning, at least out here on the west coast, the A’s were swinging for the sweep. Unfortunately, they ran into Cliff Lee. Lee shut the A’s down last Sunday in Oakland, as the Indians staved off that sweep. It was no different Sunday, as Lee pitched eight brilliant innings where he gave up just one run on two hits, and struck out eight Athletics. The Indians went on to win, in the snow, 7-1.
Cleveland got off to an early lead on Chad Gaudin when Travis Hafner hit a two-out, two-run single. Mark Ellis helped cut the lead in half as he knocked in Travis Buck, who tripled to lead off the inning. Any possible rally was halted when Daric Barton grounded into a double play, and those two hits would be all they could muster against Cliff Lee. In the bottom of the fifth, Grady Sizemore had a run scoring single to center, and the A’s fell behind 3-1. Short of the four walks he allowed, Chad Gaudin pitched quite well, allowing just the three runs on four hits, which gave the A’s a chance to win the game. That is really all one can ask, is to give the team an opportunity to come out on top. Unfortunately, any comeback hopes were dashed in the bottom of the eighth, as Cleveland hung four runs on the A’s youngster, Fernando Hernandez. He gave up all four earned runs on four hits in his two innings of work. Grady Sizemore drove in three runs in the game, and Cliff Lee dominated.
In closing, the A’s continued to play well, and are now 5-1 on the road. Can they keep rolling? We will find out, as they move into the Windy City tomorrow for a short two game set with former teammate Nick Swisher and the White Sox. The Sox just finished off the struggling Detroit Tigers in impressive fashion, taking two of three, including Sunday’s 11-0 romp in which they hit two grand slams. As for the probable pitchers for the two game set, Monday evening Greg Smith takes on Mark Buerhle. Although he did not get a decision, Smith pitched well in the win against the Toronto Blue Jays. Buerhle won his last start on April 6th in a 13-2 win against the Tigers. He went seven strong, and allowed just one earned run on seven hits. Tuesday, Dana Eveland opposes John Danks. Eveland threw six and a third of shutout ball in the A’s win in Toronto, while Danks was shelled in his last start against Minnesota, where he gave up seven runs in just two and a third innings. I see a split as the forecast for this short series, and would be very satisfied with the wait for it…first place A’s coming back home to Oakland with a 9-6 record. As always, I hope for the sweep. Starting pitching has been the key to the A’s early season successes, and as long as the starters pitch well, things are looking great for this young ball club. If you would like to comment, or have any questions that you would like to be read on the air, you can reach us in a variety of ways.
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That’s how I see it…Let’s Go Oakland!
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