A's/Giants series

After a convincing sweep of the Giants in San Francisco this weekend, there is no doubt who are the kings of the Bay Area.

But really, was there any doubt? They knocked out rookie phenom Tim Lincecum in the fifth inning, they beat Barry Zito again as Dan Haren dominated to reduce his ML-leading ERA to a ridiculous 1.58, and Lenny DiNardo continued his extreme luck pitching, leading the A's to victory again. The A's are currently The Team That Can't Lose Unless Someone Is Throwing A No-Hitter Against Them, And Even In That Case They Only Give Up One Run. We'll go with TTTCLUSITANHATAEITCTOGUOR for short.

And, on top of that, they called up my favorite A's prospect, catcher Kurt Suzuki, after trading backup Adam Melhuse to the Rangers for cash. I was a bit disappointed to see Jason Kendall in the lineup yesterday, as I was hoping to watch my boy's debut, but I understand that being a catcher involves a lot of preparation. You're not just going to throw a rookie behind the plate and say, "Go for it!"

Plus, Bob Geren has promised that Suzuki will play more than Melhuse did. Will he play on Tuesday and catch Joe Kennedy in Houston? Maybe. But that would mean his first taste of major league pitching would be served by Mr. Roy Oswalt. Yikes! Either way though, I'll be happy to finally see him in green and gold.

GO A's!!!

Red Sox 1, A's 0

I'm a baseball fan and I like to see baseball history. I usually root for no-hitters. But yesterday afternoon, when Shannon Stewart lined a single to right to break up Curt Schilling's no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth, I let out a "Yeah!" and a fist pump.

Maybe I didn't want to see a no-hitter against the A's. Maybe it makes me feel better that they got one-hit instead of no-hit. But most of all, they still had a legitimate chance to win the game at that point.

Alas, it was not to be. And poor Joe Blanton has pitched 16 1/3 innings in his last two starts but only gotten one run of support.

Here's hoping for more than one hit off Tim Lincecum tonight. (Have you seen him? He looks like he's 9!!!!)

A's 3, Red Sox 2

Apparently Joe Kennedy doesn't like being called a Bonus Boy.

Joe continued to take offense to my lack of trust in him as he went seven strong innings, allowing only two runs. His 3.23 ERA is good for 11th in the AL in starter ERA. Not bad for a guy who looked like he couldn't get Little Leaguers out in Spring Training.

So the A's find themselves with a series win over the Red Sox, and a chance to sweep the four-game series this afternoon. The A's have apparently noticed that yes, this is June, and it's time to get hot.

In other news, the draft is today and ESPN2 is actually going to televise it. The A's don't pick until pick #26 in the first round, but they have two sandwich picks for losing Frank Thomas and Barry Zito. Name I think and hope I'll be typing in a few hours as the A's first rounder of 2007? Third baseman Beau Mills.

They'll have the brooms out in Oakland. Let's hope Blanton can be Saturday Joe! GO A's!!!!

A's 2, Red Sox 0

Last night saw Lenny DiNardo's ERA shrink even more, now at 1.45. That's amazing considering he walked six batters, but he got help from the A's defense with four inning-ending double plays.

I view DiNardo similar to how I view Joe Kennedy. They win games, they prevent runs from scoring, but they don't look pretty doing it. Lady Luck is on their side, and it's only a matter of time before things even out. But we'll take the wins from them when we can get them.

So the guy who got waived beat his former team and their rookie sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka, but he insists he didn't have revenge in mind. Whatever. I know I did, and I was nowhere near that ballpark. This was a great win.

The other Bonus Boy, Kennedy, goes tonight against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. We're one win away from taking a four-game series from the AL's top team! Go A's!!!

A's 5, Red Sox 4

Maybe I'm mad because I didn't go to bed happy. Maybe I'm mad because I know last night's game should not have gone to extra innings. Maybe I'm still mad at the official scorer for giving Mark Ellis an FC/E5 in the 8th. All I know is the A's won, Mark Ellis hit for the cycle, and I'm mad.

Nice walk-off home run, Chavvy. But the last image of you I had in my mind as I went to sleep last night is you flailing and missing at a pitch in the dirt with the bases loaded and nobody out. I know you made up for it, but really, is there some connection between white cleats and being allergic to RISP? I think this should be investigated.

And Alan Embree - what the hell was that? I know, I know, you're not a closer. But come on, what does Danny Haren have to do to get a win around here? Come season's end, he's not going to have enough of those sexy W's to get consideration for a certain award - mark my words.

OK, OK - enough negativity for today. I should be smiling and writing words like "exciting", "thrilling", and "amazing" as I describe this A's win. It really was all those things. From Ellis' cycle to Haren's pitching to the horrid bottom of the 9th to Kotsay-to-Crosby-to-Kendall face-tag at the plate, this is one was a game to remember.

It's nice to get the first of the series, and the matchup that was advantage A's going into it. Tonight, the A's get their first look at Dice-K and hand the ball to emergency starter Lenny Dinardo and that 1.80 ERA of his that makes me say, "Where did that come from?"

How badly do you think Lenny wants to beat Captain Gyroball and the team that waived him? Uh huh.

GO A'S!!!!!!

Santana vs. Gaudin

Well, I think I can consider myself officially activated from the DL, as I have high speed internet in my new house and the A's schedule posted on the wall.

When I saw the scheduled matchup for today, I knew I had to make sure to watch it. Yet, the A's still haven't gotten Sunday Night Baseball yet this year and we're getting Yankees/Red Sox for the 1,000,000,0000,000th time. Lucky for me I have MLB.tv and can still watch. This would have been a good one for ESPN but instead John Miller and Joe Morgan will be salivating over Derek Jeter again. Oh well.

I've decided to live blog throughout this game, so hopefully I'm not jinxing Chad Gaudin by doing so.

With five minutes until first pitch, here are the lineups:

YOUR Oakland Athletics

Stewart LF
Ellis 2B
Swisher RF
Johnson 1B
Chavez 3B
Crosby SS
Cust DH
Kotsay CF
Kendall C

THEIR Minnesota Twins

Castillo 2B
Punto 3B
Cuddyer RF
Morneau 1B
Hunter CF
Redmond C
Kubel LF
Bartlett SS
Tyner DH

Gotta love when the other team has the DH hitting 9th. GO A'S!!!

End of the 1st inning, A's 1, Twins 0

Both pitchers got out of jams with double plays, but the A's managed to score in their frame. Hopefully this isn't another appearance of the first inning A's!

Middle of the 3rd, A's 1, Twins 0

Well Gaudin has pitched out of a few jams. It's nice to see a goose-egg in the visitors' column, but I'm nervous about the inevitable relying on the bullpen that will come in the late innings of this game.

End of 3rd, A's 4, Twins 0

The A's score three (one unearned) off mighty Johan to pad their lead. Today's A's are not the first inning A's!

Top of the 6th, A's 4, Twins 2

A's clinging to a two-run lead and Gaudin is getting the hook. It's the bullpen's game now.

Middle of the 7th, A's 4, Twins 2

A's hanging on thanks to some stellar pitching by new callup Santiago Casilla. Would Jay Witasick have done that? A thought to ponder...

Middle of the 8th, A's 4, Twins 2

After an 8th inning by committee, the A's will go into the 9th with a lead! A few more runs before we get there wouldn't hurt though!

FINAL - A's 4, Twins 2

Embree closes it out and the A's win!!