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!!!