A’s Drop First Series Since Mid-April

Hello again A’s fans, It’s Jordan here a little later than I would like to have been, so I apologize for the tardiness on this entry. The A’s entertained the Texas Rangers this past weekend in Oakland, and came out on the wrong end of a two out of three series. These divisional games are obviously the most important of all the games, and if the A’s intend to remain in any sort of divisional race, they must win their home games against the teams of less quality.

Friday night, I was in attendance with our good friend Jack and sat a few rows behind the Texas dugout. It was a nice evening weather wise, but unfortunately the A’s struggled and could not make it a perfect night. The A’s dropped the series opener 4-3, thanks largely in part to some very poor defense. They made 4 errors, and Joe Blanton was tagged for four runs, as only two were earned. The A’s have the second most errors as a team this season, only behind the very same Rangers who were in town.

The visitors opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as Ian Kinsler came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Michael Young. Kinsler, the leadoff man reached on an Emil Brown error, as he just flat out dropped a fly ball, and Kinsler made it all the way to third base. Former Athletic Milton Bradley returned to the Coliseum and had a great day going 3-4, and scored the second run after singling in the top of the fourth. He was driven home by a Brandon Boggs sacrifice fly. The A’s stormed back in the bottom half of that same inning by scoring three times. Jack Cust opened the Athletics’ scoring with a one-out solo blast to the left-center bleachers. After Texas committed an error of their own and Rob Bowen reached base, Bobby Crosby doubled home Emil Brown and Bowen. The 3-2 lead, however, did not last long. In the top of the fifth inning, Ian Kinsler tied it up with an RBI groundout. With one out in the inning and Ramon Vazquez on second, Michael Young grounded to third. Jack Hannahan briefly looked Vazquez back at second and threw across the diamond to get Young at first. Vazquez broke for third on the throw, and Daric Barton took a chance to try and peg him there. Unfortunately for Barton and the A’s, his throw was wide to the left field side of the bag, and Vazquez scored what turned out to be the game-winning run. The A’s threatened in the bottom of the sixth when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Donnie Murphy was uncharacteristically aggressive at the plate, swinging at a 2-0 fastball and grounding out to end the inning. Although it did not work out, I appreciate the fact that Donnie was aggressive. He looked for his pitch and just happened to miss it. With Daric Barton on first in the bottom of the seventh, Jack Cust hammered a ball into right-center which looked like a certain RBI double, but Josh Hamilton turned in the play of the day, making a running catch that took him into the wall, and then doubled off Barton at first. Vicente Padilla turned in a quality start for Texas, as he went five and two-thirds innings, allowing 3 runs, 1 of which was earned on 5 hits while striking out 6 A’s hitters. This was a frustrating loss, and again, Joe Blanton was on the wrong end of it. This marks the third time this season he has given up 2 earned runs and lost. He is now 2-5 with a pretty solid 3.88 ERA.

Saturday evening the A’s were in action again, trying to even their series. Unfortunately for them, they could not. They fell behind early and never recovered, losing 6-3. This marked the first series that the A’s have lost since April 17 against the Mariners. Chad Gaudin was on the hill against youngster A.J. Murray.

The Rangers jumped out again in the first inning, as David Murphy smoked a 1-2 fastball that stayed up for a three-run shot to right-center field. This blow came with two outs as well, so that was definitely a pitch that Chad wanted back. The A’s fell behind by even more in the top of the fifth, as Michael Young doubled home a run and then scored in the next at-bat on a Josh Hamilton single. Oakland pulled two back in the bottom half of that inning, as Mike Sweeney doubled a deep fly ball to right-center that scored both Kurt Suzuki and Mark Ellis. The A’s looked like they may be mounting a comeback as they scored once more in the following inning on a Bobby Crosby RBI single that plated Emil Brown. A.J. Murray stymied the Oakland hitters, as they mustered just the three runs, two of which were earned on a scattered six hits over five and one-thirds innings. The Texas bullpen shut the door on Oakland as they combined to no-hit the A’s the rest of the way, allowing just two base runners the last three and two-thirds innings. Texas added an insurance run in the ninth as well, on a Chris Shelton home run. This was his first hit of 2008, and I was surprised to be part of a Chris Shelton sighting. Gaudin had a rough outing, surrendering five earned runs on eight hits, and was saddled with the loss, his second on the young season. Mike Sweeney was the only Athletic with multiple hits, going 2-4 with his 2 RBI.

In the finale, a Sunday matinee, Oakland came out in front of 31, 673 and won 3-1 to avoid the sweep. It was Campy Campineras jersey giveaway day, and the Plaza Level seats were only $4 due to the 20 hit outburst Thursday night in Anaheim, so the fans came out in droves, which was nice to see for a change. The A’s wore those ‘68 jerseys which were really nice in my opinion, and wish they would wear them more often. Also, Texas participated in the throwback style of the Washington Senators. The weird thing was that they wore the same hats as the Washington nationals do, so I had to do a double take when watching the game.

Oakland fell behind first for the third consecutive day as German Duran homered in the top of the third off of Greg Smith. Smith, aside from this mistake was flawless. He unfortunately had a no-decision, but was great as he fanned ten over six innings, allowing just the one run on three hits. Another young pitcher, Scott Feldman of the Rangers pitched well also, allowing three runs over six and a third on six hits and striking out five. Oakland got those three runs in the bottom of the seventh, as Frank Thomas reached on a fly bal to center that was lost in the sun by Josh Hamilton, and was credited with a double. Jack Cust then followed with a two-run blast to left-center. This marked Jack Cust’s seventh consecutive game with at least one hit, which tied his career high, as he finished his day at 2-3. The Big Hurt also went 2-3 in this one. The A’s added a third run in the same inning, as Ryan Sweeney lined an RBI single into left-center that scored Bobby Crosby. Santiago Casilla came on for the seventh inning in relief of Greg Smith and earned the win with one perfect inning. Alan Embree logged his fifth hold of the year with a hitless, scoreless inning, and Huston Street earned his ninth save on the season with a scoreless ninth in which he had two strikeouts.

The A’s fought hard in this last game, and it was nice to see them salvage at least one in the series. This put the A’s at 19-14. Hats off to Jack Cust, who was named the American League Player of the Week, and he did a wonderful job with two home runs in the series. Word has also come in that Eric Chavez may not be ready for activation at the 60 day mark as originally expected, so that still hangs over the A’s at this point. On a more positive injury note, Rich Harden and Keith Foulke are each working their way back through their rehab starts.

The A’s opened up another home series last night, as they beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in ten innings, but I will save the details for our Wednesday show and Charles’ next blog entry. As for later tonight, the probable pitching match-up pits Justin Duchscherer (2-1 with a 2.40 ERA) against Brian Burres (3-2 with a 2.87 ERA). Wednesday, the A’s will send Joe Blanton (2-5 with a 3.88 ERA) to oppose Jeremy Guthrie (1-3 with a 4.06 ERA). The A’s have the better team here and should win at least one of the next two games, as I see them taking two of three overall. I do hope that Joe Blanton gets the win on Wednesday afternoon, as I feel he has earned it, with quality start after quality start.

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That’s How I See It…Let’s Go Oakland!!!