Hello again A’s fans, it’s Jordan here with you again. The A’s began their road trip in Arlington, Texas, where they met the red-hot Texas rangers for the second time in the last week. Unfortunately for the A’s, they do not match up favorably with the Rangers, and it shows. They dropped two of three last week in Oakland and repeated that performance when they visited Arlington. The A’s are still in first place, but these divisional games are very important, and it hurts when you lose them.
In the series opener on Friday evening, Greg Smith took the mound for Oakland, and was opposed by Scott Feldman for Texas. The Rangers opened the score sheet with an RBI groundout for American League RBI leader Josh Hamilton in the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Boggs doubled the Rangers advantage with his second homerun of the season off of Greg Smith. 
Scott Feldman was phenomenal for Texas, as he shut the A’s offense down for six innings, where they only managed two hits. In the bottom of that sixth inning, Brandon Boggs hurt Oakland again, with a two-run double into the left-center field gap, as he concluded his evening with a 3-4 performance and three RBI. The A’s did not fare much better against the Rangers’ bullpen, as they scratched out just two more hits the rest of the way, and were shutout. Jack Cust was the lone bright spot offensively for the A’s, as he had two of those hits. On a positive note from a pitching standpoint, Chad Gaudin embraced his new role out of the bullpen, and pitched two solid scoreless innings in relief. The A’s dropped this one 4-0.
On Saturday evening, the A’s tried to even up the series, but were outdone yet again by the Rangers. Texas won this one, 6-4. They jumped out in the first inning to take the lead for the second straight day, as former Athletic Milton Bradley continued to hurt the A’s, as he drove in the first run as he doubled in a run off of
A’s starter Dana Eveland. Rangers’ starter Kevin Millwood was forced to leave the game after facing just two batters, and then entered Jason Rupe, who earned the win with three innings pitched, where he gave up two runs, one of which was earned. Oakland tied the game at one in the third inning, as Emil Brown, the RBI machine knocked in another with a single that scored Jack Cust. That tie did not last long, as Milton Bradley flexed his muscle again with a two-run blast to straightaway center field. Oakland pulled within one in the fourth as Ryan Sweeney hit a sacrifice fly, but they would get no closer. Texas gave themselves all the insurance they needed with a Josh Hamilton RBI single in the seventh inning, and two more two-out runs in the eighth, as German Duran and Ian Kinsler drove in runs off of A’s reliever Keith Foulke, who just returned from the disabled list. The A’s tried to rally in the ninth, as Frank Thomas drove in two runs on a two-out double, but four runs were all the A’s could get, and they dropped the series to Texas again. Dana Eveland had another quality start as he went six innings, allowing just three runs on six hits, and struck out five. Both Emil Brown and Bobby Crosby had two hits each.
In a wild series finale, that gave the scoreboard a workout, the A’s muscled their way to a 12-6 win. This marked the return of Rich Harden from the disabled list. He did struggle, however, as he gave up five earned runs on eight hits in just three and two-thirds innings, walking four and striking out five. Oakland jumped in front in the top of the first inning, as Frank Thomas singled in a run, and then
Emil Brown crushed a three-run jack into the A’s bullpen to put the A’s comfortably ahead 4-0, or so they thought. Texas hipped away at the lead, by scoring one in the bottom of the first on a Milton Bradley RBI double, and then got another run in the second on an Ian Kinsler single. Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled in two more runs to tie the game in the third, and Josh Hamilton put Texas ahead with an RBI triple that scored Kinsler. In the top of the sixth, Oakland tied it up on a bases loaded walk to Jack Cust, and then took the lead back with a Frank Thomas sacrifice fly. In the bottom of that same inning, Texas tied it up yet again, on a Michael Young RBI single. In the seventh, with Mark Ellis at first and Bobby Crosby at third, Ellis broke for second. The Rangers’ pitcher tried to pick off Ellis, and that is when Crosby broke for the plate. He slid past Saltalamacchia to score what turned out to be the winning run on a stolen base, and Ellis took second. Ryan Sweeney provided some insurance with a sacrifice fly of his own. Emil Brown (2-5) drove in his fourth run of the game on a single in the eighth, and then Oakland scored three more times in the ninth. An error gave them their tenth run, and Daric Barton hit his second homer of the year into the right field porch in a pinch hit appearance. When all was said and done, the A’s won it 12-6, and pounded out thirteen hits. Mark Ellis went 3-5, Jack Hannahan was 2-2, and the win was credited to Santiago Casilla, who went one and a third inning of scoreless work.
It was nice to see the A’s get at least one here, after the tough start to the series, and they now travel to Cleveland to take on the Indians. Tuesday night, the A’s fell 4-0, but I will leave the recap to Charles on his next entry. Later today, Joe Blanton (2-5 3.82 ERA) takes on C.C. Sabathia (2-5, 6.55 ERA). The young man originally from the Oakland area, Sabathia has really struggled against the A’s, and Oakland hopes to continue to haunt C.C. The series wraps at 9:05 AM Pacific time on Thursday morning, as Greg Smith (2-2, 3.00 ERA) takes on Aaron Laffey (1-2, 1.83 ERA). The A’s offense has been inconsistent as of late, so we shall see what they can do. I expect them to win one of the next two, and if I had to guess, I would say it comes against Sabathia today.
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That’s How I See It…Let’s Go Oakland!!!
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