Battle of The Vowels

Hey what’s up A’s fans this is Charles here with another series recap. This week we saw Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon get married, Barack Obama strengthen his chances for the Democratic nomination, and the A’s sweep the O’s. The series provided many thrills with two extra inning wins, including Monday nights game. 

On Monday night, Dana Eveland got the start for the A’s going seven innings and giving up three hits and no earned runs. He was opposed by Garret Olson who pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up four hits and one earned run. The A’s took a 1-0 lead into the 9th inning thanks to an RBI single by Rajai Davis in the seventh inning. In the ninth, Huston Street came in and blew the save after allowing a leadoff double by Melvin Mora. Mora would later score in the inning on a Ramon Hernandez groundout. In the bottom of the tenth,  Mr. Clutch Emil Brown hit an RBI single to score Daric Barton and gave the A’s the 2-1 win.

Tuesday night the A’s kept up the winning with a 4-2 victory. Justin Duscherer pitched seven innings and gave up two earned runs to pace the A’s. Brian Burres started for the Orioles and lasted only 5 1/3 innings while surrendering eight hits and three earned runs. Emil Brown continued his stellar play by going 2-4 with an RBI. Bobby Crosby, Mark Ellis and Rajai Davis all added an RBI each for the A’s in their win. Santiago Casilla came in for the 9th to record the save, his first of the season.

In a wild game on Wednesday afternoon the A’s defeated the O’s 6-5 in extra innings. Joe Blanton got the start for the A’s and pitched 5 2/3 innings while giving up two earned runs. For Baltimore, Jeremy Guthrie pitched 5 2/3 innings while surrendering five hits and four earned runs. The A’s took a 4-2 lead into the eight inning thanks to a two run home run by Kurt Suzuki, and an RBI for both Jack Hannahan and Emil Brown. Andrew Brown had a tough outing lasting 2/3 of an innings and squandering 3 earned runs. The key play of the game came in the bottom of the eight when Jack Hannahan broke up a potential double play off the bat of Frank Thomas that allowed the tying run to score. Mark Ellis would later go on to send the hometown fans home with a win after he hit a walk off big boy in the 10th inning to complete the sweep of the O’s. With this series in hand the A’s now head to my “second state” of Texas, where the A’s will play a three game series in the Dallas area suburb of Arlington. 

On Friday night Greg Smith will oppose Scott Feldman at 5 pm pacific time. On Saturday night the A’s are scheduled to send Dana Eveland to face Kevin Millwood. The series will conclude on Sunday, and the A’s are scheduled to welcome Rich Harden back to the rotation to face Sidney Ponson. To make room in the rotation for Harden, Chad Gaudin will move back to the bullpen. 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.