The A’s Keep On Rolling

Hello again A’s fans, its Jordan here and it sure is nice to be reporting on a first place team. That is just what we have here with your Oakland Athletics, who ended today with a 16-10 record, and they have won seven of their last nine games. The Seattle Mariners gave the A’s fits last season, and opened 2008 by taking two of three in Oakland earlier this month. This weekend, however, the Athletics returned the favor, by taking two of three up in the emerald city.

Friday night, the A’s came in from consecutive series victories against the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins. Dana Eveland took the mound for Oakland against the poet/author/pitcher Miguel Batista for game one. Eveland earned his third win on the young season, as he went five and one third innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and striking out three in the A’s 4-3 win. Batista lasted just one inning as he was lifted due to injury. The A’s got to him early in the first, opening up a 3-0 lead out of the gates.

Kurt Suzuki led off with a single and then Daric Barton walked to put two on with two outs. After Mark Ellis was retired, new addition Frank Thomas came through with an RBI single to left field. The bases were then loaded and Emil Brown drew a walk that scored Barton for the second run. The final run of the first inning came in the form of a wild pitch. The Mariners pulled one run back in the bottom half of their first inning on a Raul Ibanez sacrifice fly. Ryan Sweeney hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the third off of Mariners’ reliever Cha Seung Baek to bring the lead back to three runs. Baek was excellent in relief, as he logged six innings allowing just one run on one hit. It was not enough however, as the Mariners were unable to finish their comeback, as they mustered two runs the rest of the way and fell 4-3. Offensively for the A’s, it was a rather quiet day, as they put up their four runs on just three hits. Those hits belonged to Kurt Suzuki, the Big Hurt, and Emil Brown. The bullpen was fantastic, as it has been for so much of this early season. Santiago Casilla logged one and one thirds innings of scoreless work, surrendering just one hit. Alan Embree gave up no runs on one hit in a third of an inning, Andrew Brown pitched a scoreless inning, and Huston Street earned the save with a scoreless, hitless ninth inning.

On Saturday evening, the A’s looked to clinch a series win for the third straight time. This would have to wait however, as Seattle held on for a 5-3 victory behind a stellar effort by starter Erik Bedard. Bedard went six and two thirds strong and shutout the A’s, allowing just two hits. Ichiro helped open the scoring for the M’s as he singled in Yuniesky Betancourt in the bottom of the third off of A’s starter Justin Duchschererer, who made his first start since his recent DL stint. A Brad Wilkerson infield single gave the Mariners their second run in the bottom of the fourth to give them a two run advantage. Greg Norton supplied the third run for Seattle with a sixth inning run scoring single, and the way Bedard was dealing, it looked hopeless for Oakland. hey pulled one back once the bullpen got in to make the score 3-1, when Mike Sweeney crushed a line drive homer over the left field fence. The A’s bullpen, however, was unable to keep it close enough, as they gave up two runs on a two-run double by Greg Norton in the bottom of the eighth. The Athletics certainly made it interesting in the ninth though against mariners’ loser J.J. Putz. They loaded the bases with one out, and Daric barton came up with a pinch-hit two-run single. A’s runners then moved into scoring position on a passed ball by catcher Jamie Burke. Kurt Suzuki was at the plate with an opportunity to tie the game with a base-hit, but on a full count, he popped out to second base. Mark Ellis walked to load the bases, and Mike Sweeney grounded out to first to end the game, and put the series win on hold, for now, anyway. The A’s put together just five hits in this one, and Emil Brown was the only member of the team who had a multi-hit game, at 2-4.

In the finale, a matinee on Sunday afternoon that sent both team’s aces to the mound, Oakland came out with a scrappy 4-2 win. Joe Blanton was wonderful again, and out-dueled King Felix in this one as he went seven innings, allowing just two runs on eight scattered hits, and striking out three. Oakland gave up the lead in this one early, as Adrian Beltre singled in a run with two outs in the bottom of the first. Seattle doubled their lead off Blanton in the fourth with a solo home run by Yuniesky Betancourt to left field. Felix Hernandez was cruising until he hit the top of the eighth inning, as he had given up only four hits until that inning. The eighth was a different story though, as he was charged with all four runs in the A’s rally. It started with a two-run single by Emil Brown to tie it at two. Jack Cust singled in a run with the bases loaded to break the tie, and then some insurance was added with a Ryan Sweney RBI single. Santiago Casilla came on for a perfect eighth inning, and Huston Street nailed down his second save of the series, as Oakland won their third straight series.

This three game set really impressed me, as Charles and I discussed on our last show, these are the games that mean the most. It was very nice to see the A’s win some divisional games on the road, and continue their hot trend, winning seven of nine. Oakland also got Justin Duchscherer back, and even though they lost in his start, he looked pretty good, allowing just two runs in five innings of work. Going forward, having a healthier rotation will be key, as the A’s continue on into the summer.

The A’s will be in Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the team that they share first place with. Oakland brings their 8-3 road record into southern California for this rivalry series. It is always a fun one, and I have no doubt that the A’s fans will be out in full effect and that the Athletics will bring their best out on the field. The probable pitching match-ups for the four game series pit Chad Gaudin (2-1 with a 3.38 ERA) against John Garland (3-2 with a 5.04 ERA) on Monday evening, Greg Smith (2-0 with a 2.88 ERA) against Joe Saunders (4-0 with a 2.55 ERA) on Tuesday night, Dana Eveland (3-1 with a 2.48 ERA) against Ervin Santana (4-0 with a 2.97 ERA) on Wednesday, and Justin Duchscherer (1-1 with a 2.70 ERA) versus Dustin Moseley(1-2 with a 7.30 ERA) in the finale on Thursday night. These should be good match-ups, and I look forward to watching the games, as the A’s gun for their fourth consecutive series win. I see a split here, however, as both teams are playing well. As always, I hope for a better result, and I believe it is possible, so we shall see what shakes down in Anaheim.

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Thats How I See It…Let’s Go Oakland!