Rangers 4, A's 3

Wasn't it just a week or two ago when I said I'd trust Justin Duchscherer in the late innings any day of the week?

And wasn't it just last week when he came into the 8th with a 3-1 lead and couldn't hold it? Well, he did it again, and his ERA is an ugly 6.75.

I'm not sure what to think. This guy was Mr. Reliable out of the 'pen the last two years, a guy most A's fans almost trusted more than the actual closer. And here he is, coughing up leads he'd usually protect with ease.

Maybe he's hurt. Maybe he's just got some early-season rust. Maybe the league is getting better scouting on him. But if he keeps it up, he might be relegated to mopup duty before too long.

We also might have lost Milton Bradley only two days after he came back, as he left the game with a hamstring injury after legging out an infield hit. It's only April and I'm getting really sick of seeing Todd Walker at first base. Luckily Dan Johnson is close to coming off the DL. If Milton is going to miss some time, at least DJ's return could help a little.

The A's head to Baltimore next and turn to Dan Haren to try to right the ship.

GO A's!!!

Rangers 7, A's 0

Doesn't it always seem like the day after your team scores runs in the teens, they get shut out, and you think to yourself, "They should have saved some of those runs for tonight"?

That's why you should be surprised to see the "Make a Guy Like Kameron Loe Look Like Cy Young" A's return. They always return just when you think they've finally kicked it up a notch.

Still, the A's remained within striking distance in the 8th, until rookie Jay Marshall put up a 1 IP/5 ER line that inflated his ERA to 6.00. Joe Kennedy wiggled his way out of jams well enough to give the A's a chance.

Tomorrow it's a new day and hopefully a better offensive showing for the A's. We have Chad "No Longer Bonus Boy" Gaudin going so I expect better things.

GO A's!!!

A's 16, Rangers 4

What was that I said the other day? About the A's ability to score runs and Rangers' pitching? Yeah, this is what I was talking about.

I didn't watch much of this game, and really, I didn't need to. I turned it on after dinner and it was already 8-0 in the second inning. I watched it off and on and got to see Travis Buck's first career home run. I got to see Ellis' bases loaded double that got the A's to a dozen. The only thing I missed that I would have liked to see was Adam Melhuse playing third base for an inning.

It's games like these where you can just sit back and relax and enjoy the video game-like lopsidedness. And with a score like this, you've got to think the A's offense will be just fine. I'm sure we'll get up to at least 7th worst in MLB in team batting average after tonight.

And also to help calm the fears about lack of clutchness and RISP-y suckiness, 11 of the 16 runs tonight were scored with two outs. I'll sleep on that and have nice dreams of green and gold bunnies and leprechauns.

Tomorrow night Joe Kennedy faces Kameron Loe as the A's try to keep the offense rolling.

GO A's!!!

A's 3, Angels 0

Scoring six runs in six games isn't going to get you many wins, if any at all.

Luckily for the A's, it's the Angels whose offense is sputtering to the tune of a six-game losing streak.

We had back-to-back games with our SoCal rivals and only allowed one run. Was the pitching that good, or did the A's catch the Angels hitters in one big cohesive slump? Maybe a little of both. Even the Angels TV announcers, Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler gave props to the A's pitching ("They're going through the Angels' lineup like a hot knife through butter." "Hot butter!").

Whichever way it came, Dan Haren was finally able to pick up his first win of the season to go with his sub-2 ERA, and the A's scored runs in not one, but two innings! They were able to get a rare defeat of John Lackey to cap a 5-3 homestand.

Thursday is an off day and then the A's go to Texas to take on Ron Washington and the Texas Rangers. If there's anything that can raise the A's second-to-worst-in-all-of-baseball team batting average, it's Ameriquest Field in Arlington (I think that's what they're calling it now) and the Rangers' pitching staff.

GO A's!!!

A's 4, Angels 1

My brother and I have a term that we use when referring to A's starting pitchers - "Bonus Boy."

Bonus Boy was coined during the Big Three era, and it referred to any starting pitcher that is not Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, or Barry Zito. If a Bonus Boy gets you a W, it's considered a bonus.

In 2007, Bonus Boy is any starter who is not Dan Haren or Rich Harden. But after last night, I'd like to add Chad Gaudin to that list. He is no longer a Bonus Boy.

It seems odd that a guy who is considered an emergency starter would not be considered a Bonus Boy. But I think Gaudin secured his chances of staying in the rotation once Esteban Loaiza comes back with his his 7.2 inning, four-hit gem against the Angels last night.

That's three starts he's made in which he's given up two or fewer earned runs. That, my friends, is not a Bonus Boy.

It was nice to see Bobby Crosby help out Gaudin with the bat, knocking a three-run homer off Jered Weaver. We also saw two (!) stolen bases from the A's in that game - one from Crosby and one from Jason Kendall. Are they purposely running more on Mike Napoli? The guy has only thrown out one guy in 12 chances so far this year.

This afternoon it is the battle of the non-Bonus Boys as Dan Haren takes on John Lackey, and the A's try to sweep this mini series.

GO A'S!!!

A's/Yankees weekend series

Two extra-inning games and a walkoff home run off Mariano Rivera - I couldn't have picked a worse time to miss a series.

But, thanks to MLB.tv, I can go back and watch condensed games, highlights, or the whole entire archived game if I want to. So I just sat here and spent my lunch hour watching highlights of all three and the full bottom of the ninth inning from Sunday's game, so I'll just make a few comments on the series as a whole:

1. Marco Scutaro. Really, should we be surprised anymore? I will forever remember this waiver pickup and backup infielder as the Oakland Athletic who made me pee my pants (Oct. 6, 2006, when he delivered the death blow double in Game 3 of the ALDS). His knack for the big hit is amazing, and his backup status makes those hits that much more exciting.

2. Rich Harden walking off the field with Larry Davis at his side - uh oh. Rich says he's fine and he'll be able to make his next start, but you can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of something bigger.

3. The first inning A's showed up in two of these games. Luckily, Scutaro bailed them out on the second game. What is the reason behind this phenomenon? It was a big problem last year too. This is what makes people complain about them being complacent, like it doesn't appear that they're even trying to score runs during innings 2 through 8.

4. Joe Blanton is looking good so far this year. If you asked me a few months ago, I would have said he's not very good. But he's been keeping the A's in games and has impressive control on all his pitches. His strikeout totals are up too. I think one reason for his success is that Bob Geren pulls him when it's time to pull him. I don't remember how many times it seemed Ken Macha left Blanton in to continue the bleeding. Geren is doing a nice job managing the pitching staff - at least the starters.

And not related to anything from this series, but...

5. Milton Bradley might go on the DL if he is not in tonight's lineup. Better now than in September, I guess. But it makes me wonder why he is so injury prone. I know one thing though - I cringe every time he makes a catch in the outfield, and then swoops his right leg around as he throws the ball back in.

Knowing how the A's are historically slow starters, I'll take 6-7 on April 17th. Tonight we welcome the Angels to town for a quickie two-game series. Chad Gaudin gets his third start of the year and hopefully keeps up the good work against Jered Weaver.

GO A's!!!

White Sox 6, A's 3

Yesterday's game was the first appearance of the first inning A's.

You know, the team that scores in the first inning and then never again.

Maybe Mark Beuhrle made adjustments, but it sure looked like the A's were teeing off on him in the first inning. After that though, they just seemed to roll over.

Joe Kennedy pitched effectively and only gave up one run over five innings. Much of it looked like luck though, and I hope that when Bob Geren has to decide who to skip next week, he picks Kennedy.

So Justin Duchscherer gave up the lead on a two-run homer to Jermaine Dye, and Huston Street gave up the final three nails in the coffin. These guys will get it done most of the time and it was just one of those days.

I did like seeing Jason Kendall dropped to the number eight spot in the order, and Nick Swisher moved up to number two. Swisher walks a ton and the A's have a better chance of him being on base for the middle of the order.

Today is an off day and then the A's are hosting the Yankees. Ugh. It could be ugly, but maybe we'll be surprised.

I will miss the whole Yankees series because I'll be out of town this weekend, so I'll do a full series writeup on Monday.

GO A'S!!!

A's 2, White Sox 1

I hate to be negative about a win, but eight innings of last night's game featured some of the ugliest displays of hitting I've ever seen.

Of course, a win is a win, and that's all that matters at the end of the day. But you've got to be concerned about the A's dismal offense.

I don't even want to talk about the inning that Travis Buck led off with a triple.

And our leadoff tandem, Jason Kendall and Shannon Stewart, are hitting .167 and and .189 respectively. These two were also big contributors to the lack of success in the unmentionable inning. I know it's only April, but it's no wonder the A's are having trouble scoring runs when these are the guys you have setting the table.

Luckily Stewart made the final out in the bottom of the eighth, so we didn't have either of these rally-killers starting the ninth. I truly believe that is the reason the A's won this game.

I liked Bob Geren's move of bringing in Todd Walker to pinch hit for Bobby Crosby with the game on the line. Walker is no stud, but he is a veteran. And it's about time that someone managing the A's realized that Crosby just isn't very good.

So Walker officially became an A with his game-tying RBI single. Buck is issued his first career intentional walk, and Mark Ellis yet again makes a team pay for underestimating him. A's win!

It's a day game today as the A's try to take the series behind Joe Kennedy.

GO A'S!!!

White Sox 4, A's 1

This loss is tough to take, knowing that the A's hitters were up against a guy who was getting behind in the count all night long. I don't even remember how many 3-0 counts we saw, and Jose Contreras walked four batters. But only one of them came around to score! ARGH!

But, this kind of offensive ineptitude is typical A's. If I recall correctly, they were last in the league in hitting with runners in scoring position last year, and first in the league in grounding into double plays. New hitting coach Ty VanBurkleo has his work cut out for him, as have previous A's hitting coaches.

So last night was a night when the guy with a 63.00 ERA beat the guy with a 0.00 ERA. Ah, April baseball.

Chad Gaudin goes tonight for the green and gold against Jon Garland. Here's hoping he can keep making a strong case to stay in the rotation.

GO A'S!!!

A's 2, Angels 1

This game had the makings of a RISP nightmare.

First there was the runners on second and third and nobody out situation in which the A's failed to score. Then two innings later, the A's had runners on first and second with no outs and couldn't bring anyone home.

So in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the A's clinging to a 2-0 lead, Garrett Anderson singled and then Casey Kotchman doubled. I got scared. Then after Joe Blanton struck out Howie Kendrick, Geren pulled him in favor of Alan Embree. And then Maicer Izturis grounded a ball to Bobby Crosby, who threw to third trying to get Kotchman out. But he was safe! And the run scored! And I buried my face in my hands, expecting an explosion of Angel runs and another blown lead.

But Embree slammed the door on them just when it looked like they were about to blow the game open, striking out Mike Napoli and lefty killer and pinch hitter extraordinaire Robb Quinlan.

And even when the A's couldn't scrape across another run in the seventh, eighth, and ninth, it didn't matter, as Kiko Calero, Justin Duchscherer, and Huston Street breezed through the Angels lineup and didn't give the Rally Monkey a chance.

Pitching is how the west will be won, and today the A's showed that their staff is a force to be reckoned with.

Tomorrow night, it's home sweet home for the home opener in front of the Oakland faithful. It's sure to be a big crowd as Rich Harden takes the hills againt the White Sox.

GO A'S!!!

Angels 2, A's 1

In recent years, the A's have been known as the team who walks and waits for the three-run homer. And they never bunt and they never run.

In the first five games under Bob Geren's reign, however, we've seen some aggressive play on the basepaths. We've seen hit-and-runs and steal attempts. But the A's sure seemed to run their way out of this game.

It started in the fifth inning when Mark Ellis singled to center, stole second base, and took third on a throwing error by catcher Mike Napoli. But then with only one out, he ran on contact when Marco Scutaro grounded hard to shortstop Orlando Cabrera, and he was easily thrown out at home.

Then, in the 7th inning, Eric Chavez hit a leadoff double - a great way to put your team in position to score. Then John Lackey plunked Nick Swisher, so there were A's on first and second with nobody out. Mark Ellis tried to bunt them over, but Napoli caught Chavez getting aggressive and he was about a third of the way to third base when the Angels got him in a rundown.

Lots of squandered opportunities tonight, folks, and Dan Haren goes seven innings, gives up one earned run and takes the loss. Is he our hard luck loser this season?

Well we've got last year's good luck winner, Joe Blanton, going tomorrow against Kelvim Escobar as the A's try to get out of L.A. with a series split.

GO A's!!!

Angels 5, A's 2

It's easy to second guess a manager's decision when things go wrong.

Such was the case last night, when Bob Geren opted to have Jay Witasick pitch to Vladimir Guerrero with two on and one out in a one-run ballgame. Garrett Anderson was on deck, and an option could have been to intentionally walk Vlad and bring in rookie southpaw Jay Marshall to pitch to Anderson with the bases loaded.

But Geren had Witasick go after Vlad, and Vlad responded by crushing a three-run homer to center. Then Marshall came in and struck out Anderson.

So was it a bad move by Geren to have Witasick pitch to Vlad? Not necessarily. I remember a season or two ago when lefty specialist Ricardo Rincon came into a tight game to pitch to Anderson, and he crushed a ball that probably hasn't landed yet.

And he's not exactly a guy on who the lefty/lefty matchup tends to work. Coming into 2007, Anderson was a .296 hitter - .291 against lefties! Not exactly an automatic out.

Another thing to keep in mind - Jay Marshall is a guy who hadn't pitched above A-ball until four days ago. Yes, he's done well, but I certainly wouldn't call him battle-tested.

So Geren's decision didn't work out. He'll have many more decisions that won't work out, and many that will. I hope to at least get to the All-Star break before a Fire Geren blog appears.

It was good to see Joe Kennedy make a decent start in the fifth starter position, and Adam Melhuse get a start as Kennedy's personal catcher. I hope it works out every fifth day for both of them.

Let's keep our fingers crossed on the injury front - Milton Bradley was a late scratch from the lineup with soreness in his side, and Bobby Crosby left the game with back spasms. The A's really can't afford to lose significant time from both of those guys for the second season in a row.

Tonight it's the battle of the zero ERAs as Dan Haren goes up against John Lackey. In pitcher versus team matchups, it's advantage Lackey. But I loved the way Haren looked against Seattle so I like our chances.

GO A'S!!!

A's 4, Angels 3

Frank Thomas did it in his first at-bat. Mike Piazza did it at a crucial point in a game against a division rival.

For the past two seasons now, we've had the luxury of having future Hall of Famers hitting in the cleanup spot as the A's designated hitters. And like Thomas before him, Piazza hit his official "Welcome to Oakland" home run in dramatic fashion.

It's always an intense atmosphere when the A's and Angels play each other. It doesn't matter if it's April or September. It was only the fourth game of the season, but I was still sitting at the edge of my chair, intently watching the game on my computer screen, with that old familiar knot-in-my-stomach feeling that comes from A's/Angels matchups.

And when K-Rod came into the game in the 9th with the score tied at 3, and I saw who was due up for the A's in the inning, I thought to myself, "This would be a nice time for Piazza to hit one out." I don't want to say I called it, because I didn't say it out loud to any witnesses, but I swear - I thought it.

So when he hit it out, as I knew he could and knew he should, it just felt right. I have officially embraced Michael Joseph Piazza as an Oakland Athletic.

Overshadowed by Piazza's heroics is Chad Gaudin, who filled in nicely in a spot start, with two runs and five hits allowed in five innings pitched. I would think Bob Geren will have no trouble giving him the ball again next Tuesday against the White Sox.

Tonight we get a look at our fifth starter, Joe Kennedy, who saved his spot with one good outing at the end of spring training.

GO A'S!!

A's 9, M's 0

You've got to love the games where your number nine hitter drives in five runs, while the other team's offense swings and misses hopelessly against your ace pitcher.

Most wins don't come as easy as this one, but it feels like they can when Rich Harden is pitching.

Harden was his usually nasty self, making the Mariners' hitters flail at pitches over their heads in the dirt. It's unfortunate that he won't be able to go up against our nemesis Angels this weekend, but the Coliseum will be electric Monday night when he starts the home opener.

Tonight we open up a four-game series with the Angels and get our first look at Chad Gaudin, starting pitcher. We know that Esteban Loaiza will be out at least for two starts, so here's Gaudin's chance to stake his claim for a spot in the rotation.

GO A'S!!

M's 8, A's 4

Game 2 of 162: The first game of the 2007 season I opted to turn off before it was over and go to bed.

Now, I'm not about to jump off a bridge because the A's lost the first two games of the season. But when you watch them scrap their way back to tie, and you're gearing up for some late-inning excitement, and then Yuniesky Betancourt takes the wind out of your sails with one swing, well, sometimes it's just better to move on and get ready for another day.

This outing was typical Joe Blanton - give up four or five runs, but look deceivingly good doing it. He looked sharp and had good control. He even struck out seven batters. But it didn't turn into a W for him like so many of those performances did last year.

And Kiko Calero and Justin Duchscherer? I trust those guys in the late innings any day of the week. Like Bobby Crosby and his absent glove the night before, these two just didn't have it when they usually do. I don't doubt they will come up big many times this year.

It was nice to see the offense show that they weren't about to roll over after getting stymied the night before. Jason Kendall had a clutch RBI double to tie the game in the 7th, and Milton Bradley hit the first A's home run of 2007.

And one thing I loved - the perfectly executed hit-and-run in the second inning. Bobby Kielty took off from first on the 3-2 pitch and Crosby poked an opposite field single to right, advancing Kielty to third. Then Mark Ellis hit a sac fly to bring him home. No run scores in that situation with station-to-station baseball. Could we be seeing more of that this season with Bob Geren at the helm?

Well, there is no guy I trust more to get rid of that goose egg in the win column than Mr. James Richard Harden. He'll take the ball tonight against Miguel Batista and try to avoid a sweep.

GO A'S!!!

M's 4, A's 0

It’s kind of hard to be mad at your team’s lack of offense when they’re up against a pitcher as dominant as King Felix was tonight.

But Dan Haren was just as dominant, until Bobby Crosby dropped what should have been an easy double play ball. Two batters later, it was 4-0. In a pitchers’ duel though, someone has to lose. And this time, it was the A’s.

The lone bright spot for the offense came when rookie Travis Buck drilled a ball over Ichiro’s head for a double, his first big league hit. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of that kind of hitting from him in the years to come.

Blanton versus Washburn tomorrow – the A’s should be able to score a few runs. As long as they score more than they give up, I’ll be happy.

A few new faces, a few surprises, and another season of Oakland A's baseball

And then there were 25.

The A’s announced their Opening Day 25-man roster today, and injuries and circumstances opened up jobs for four people I didn’t expect to see in green and gold in Seattle on Monday afternoon – Travis Buck, Lenny DiNardo, Jay Marshall, and Todd Walker.

Buck is definitely the most exciting addition of the four. Named the A’s top prospect by Baseball America for 2007, the outfielder tore it up in spring training, hitting for a .339 average and a Beane-esque .417 on-base percentage. The logical situation would be for Buck to start in right field against righty pitchers, and sit in favor of Bobby Keilty versus southpaws. That still puts him in the game more often than not, so I think I like the move. He definitely has shown he is ready, and if you’ve got the at-bats to give him, go for it!

DiNardo makes the team, likely as the fifth starter, replacing the injured Esteban Loaiza. Bob Geren has yet to say whether the job will go to DiNardo or Gaudin, but I think Gaudin is too valuable in the ‘pen and the pitching would be weakened in the late innings if he wasn’t available. I always like to see castoffs from other teams do well so I hope DiNardo can make the most of this opportunity.

Jay Marshall – not Ryan Goleski – makes the team as a Rule 5 pick. He had an impressive spring, posting a 2.76 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched. Marshall looks to be a lefty specialist in the bullpen, a role that the team’s other lefty reliever, Alan Embree, is not as well suited for. And with his funky sidearm delivery, he could give the AL West some fits this year.

Last but not least, Todd Walker is an A. What? When did this happen? It’s catching a lot of people by surprise, that’s for sure. But apparently Walker was cut by the Padres on Monday, and the A’s inked him to a minor-league deal on Friday, in light of the injury to Dan Johnson. The A’s cut Erubiel Durazo, likely because of his lackluster defense and lack of versatility, and signed a guy who can play first, second, and third base. That’s probably Walker was also kept in favor of Antonio Perez, whom the A’s designated for assignment. So, they end up carrying only two backup infielders – Walker and Marco Scutaro – who can play all over the infield.

As I do every year, I like this team on paper going into the season. Even with three significant pieces to the team set to miss big chunks of time due to injury, the team is set up well to absorb these losses. The team looks good from top to bottom.

Now let’s go out there and watch our boys defend the AL West crown! GO A’S!!

UPDATE: Looks like I was wrong about DiNardo's role on the team, as the A's have announced Chad Gaudin will get the Thursday start versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Well he has definitely earned it. I'm looking forward to watching it!