Double Dipping

Hey what’s up A’s fans this is Charles here for another series recap. This week the A’s hosted another brief two game series, this time with divisional foe Seattle. Seattle’s dominance of Oakland would once again be in display in this series.

On Wednesday night “King” Felix Hernandez continued his dominance of Oakland by defeating Joe Blanton and the A’s 4-2. Blanton ran into trouble early by relinquishing three runs in the first inning. A’s killer Raul Ibanez hit an RBI single to score Ichiro and put Seattle on the board. Jose Vidro then hit a two run double that scored Ibanez and Beltre. The ball was hit to shallow center field, and Ryan Sweeney made a miscalculated dive that allowed the ball to roll past Sweeney. That turned out to be the deciding play in what would become another mediocre performance against Seattle. In the top of the third Beltre hit an RBI double to score Ibanez and stretch the Mariners lead to 4-1.  Daric Barton was the lone bright spot for the A’s as he went 2-4 with an RBI. Raul Ibanez abused the A’s again with a 3-4 night and an RBI. Blanton lasted 8 innings while giving up 12 hits and four earned runs. This paled in comparison to “King” Felix pitching a complete game while giving up one earned run and striking out eight batters.   

On Thursday Seattle defeated the A’s once again by an 8-1 margin behind a stellar performance by Carlos Silva and a terrible outing by Lenny Di Nardo. Di Nardo lasted only 2 1/3 innings while surrendering five earned runs, five hits and four walks. Kirk Saarloos came in for relief and pitched 5 2/3 innings while only allowing two earned runs. For the Mariners, Jose Vidro went 1-5 with 2 RBI in the third, Johjima had an RBI on a walk and Rafael Betancourt added an RBI single to finish off the third inning. Jose Lopez finished with a 3-5 day with 2 RBI and the A’s killer Raul Ibanez finished with a 3-5 night and an RBI. The A’s were only able to muster 4 hits off of Carlos “Big Chief” Silva who pitched seven innings and gave up one earned run. That run was scored on a meaningless RBI double by Emil Brown, who along with Jack Cust, Daric Barton and Mark Ellis accounted for all four of Oakland’s hits. After being swept, the A’s now start a three game home series against the Kansas City Royals. Oakland sends out Chad Gaudin to face Brian Bannister on Friday night, while Greg Smith faces Zack Greinke on Saturday afternoon. The three game series will conclude on Sunday with Dana Eveland pitching for the A’s against a starter yet to be named by Kansas City.

Make sure to email us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185. You can also have your voice heard by posting a message to this blog. Go A’s! Have a great weekend and remember to live smooth.