We had to watch these awful games, so all you have to do is read the recaps. Since Louis and I both had games, we both wrote recaps. Enjoy! They're FOR SURE more fun than the games were!

baseballgirl
Shockingly, in the first game of the twin bill, A’s managed to do something that they haven’t done much this second half: compete in a game where their starting pitcher was less than sharp. Of course, in true A’s fashion, ‘competing’ means ‘taking the game all the way to extra innings and losing in the tenth instead of the third’, but what can you do? And why does bonus baseball turn up at the most inopportune times, such as game one of a long three days of baseball.

Dana Eveland pitched an uneventful first couple of innings, but ran into trouble in the third, as the Royals put two runners on with one out, and then allowed another infield hit to load the bases. The Royals, who apparently can hit with runners in scoring position, wasted no time driving in two runs courtesy of Billy Butler, another run courtesy of a wild pitch, and the last run on yet another hit. When all was said and done, the A’s were down 4-0 before the third inning was completed.

The downside of playing a possible five games in three days is that you sometimes have to leave a struggling pitcher out there to get hit (especially in the first game), and the A’s did just that. But instead of getting pounded further (see: Meyer, Dan), Eveland turned it around after escaping the third, and despite giving up ten hits on the day, the 4-spot in the third would be the last runs he would give up; helped, no doubt, by his zero walks and five strikeouts, and several outs made on the basepaths by the Royals.

In an interesting move (keeping in mind that the A’s are playing the first game of a double-header with another one looming Saturday), despite Eveland’s relatively low pitch-count, he was pulled after the sixth (and 83 pitches) and Huston Street came out of the ‘pen in the seventh to continue his audition for a future closer role. He pitched two scoreless innings, allowing only a single hit and recording a pair of strikeouts, and looked good doing it. Joey Devine and his super-sparkly ERA pitched a perfect ninth, but an error by Bobby Crosby led to the walk-off Royals’ victory in the tenth, handing Devine his first loss of the year.

You might ask how the A’s managed to score the four runs to pick up their struggling starting pitcher and send the game to extras in the first place, but surprisingly (and with a little help from a Royals error), the A’s had a “big” inning in the fifth, as Patterson singled with one out, Sweeney reached on the error, Crosby singled in one run, and Cust doubled in two.

Daric Barton homered to tie the game in the sixth, but in another interesting decision by the bench, was called on to bunt a runner to second in the eighth. Had the game mattered, I would have questioned this move to no end. Barton is the hottest hitter on the A’s, by a long shot, and in my opinion, his at-bat was wasted on a sacrifice bunt, especially when it brought up the bottom of the lineup.

The A’s did not score again, and after the error opened the door in the tenth, the Royals seized the moment, and the game, 5-4.

The second game started out as you might expect if you knew Dan Meyer was going to be pitching. He allowed eight runs; seven of them earned, and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. Anyone surprised? He was followed by Saarloos, Embree, Foulke and Blevins as the A’s tried to mount a comeback. (Stop laughing.)

On the other side of the mound, Davies threw a hundred and one pitches over his five innings, but held the A’s to a single run; an RBI double by Ryan Sweeney.  The A’s mounted two more threats later in the game, but couldn’t pull off the sheer quantity of runs that they needed. Sweeney duplicated his earlier effort in the seventh, bringing in Pennington and Davis on another RBI double, and Barton knocked Sweeney in with a sacrifice fly. In the ninth, off the Royals’ sixth pitcher (they would use seven total), the A’s were able to get two more runs home via a Cust double and a Barton ground-out, but the six runs were just a tease, since they gave away nine. This team is terrible.

Bottom line: The A’s go down in a sweep today, and a sweep of the series, and now limp into Baltimore to face a team that is playing as badly (if that’s even possible). It will be the series that both sides just try not to lose. 

We can only hope for better times.

louismg
In the 1950s and 1960s, Ernie Banks personified the love of baseball with his perennial smile and pledge to "Let's Play Two!" during his time with the Cubs. But over the last few decades, the number of scheduled double headers has virtually been eliminated, with teams wanting to maximize every fan dollar and potential television revenue. With today presenting the opportunity to witness such a rare event, I was hopeful we could see the A's capitalize on their unrequested day off, and snare a pair from the Kansas City Royals. But it was not meant to be. One game was lost late, and the other, lost  almost immediately, but in the end, they both counted the same, as the A's dropped the contests 5-4, and 9-6, in a game that, to be honest, really wasn't that close.

Deja vu all over again!

Game two of the double-header is now underway, starring Dan Meyer as a starting pitcher (typecasting, not so much) facing Kyle Davies of the Royals, as the A's try to take the night game in KC after losing what would have been a heartbreaker had it been a different season.

Thanks to the questionable decision to bunt Daric Barton, and a key error in the tenth inning by Crosby, the A's drop the first game 5-4 after clawing back down 4-0 to send the game to extra innings.

Despite only throwing 84 pitches (and pitching not well, but better as the game went on), Geren used Street and Devine for two innings apiece, so don't expect them to be available.

Davis is now in center field for the A's, Sweeney, R moves to right, and Sweeney, M moves to the bench in favor of the DH Suzuki, giving Bowen a chance to catch the second game. Crosby is also benched. I'd like to think because of poor play, but probably just to get Pennington work.

Oakland

Davis, CF
Sweeney, R, RF
Suzuki, DH
Cust, LF
Barton, 1B
Hannahan, 3B
Patterson, 2B
Bowen, C
Pennington, SS

KC

DeJesus, RF
German, LF
Aviles, M, 3B
Buillen, DH
Butler, 1B
Callaspo, 2B
Buck, C
Pena, SS
Gathright, CF

Here we go! Round two!

LET'S GO OAKLAND!
LET'S GO OAKLAND!

LET'S PLAY TWO!

Hi, I'm baseballgirl, and I will be co-hosting this event, as we prepare to settle down for a long day of A's baseball. Hopefully this will be more fun than the long month of August, where even an hour of A's baseball was quite the commitment.

For convenience sake, there will be two separate game threads, back-to-back, but only one wrap-up after both games. Let's hope there is a lot to talk about; after all, six hours of A's baseball should be a dream for us, right?

I do love double-headers. And it's like Christmas; after not seeing one in years, we have the possibility of two in three days. It would be more exciting (aside from being completely unfair, scheduling-wise) if the A's were playing for more than just respect this season, but we will take what we can get.

First up this afternoon is Dana Eveland--fresh off his second excellent start since his brief stint in the minors--taking on Brian Bannister and the KC Royals.

And look who's back in the lineup!

LET'S GO OAK-LAND!
LET'S GO OAK-LAND!

They will be playing a double-header tomorrow, starting at 2:10 PST. See you then for double-header game threads! I'm not sure AN has had those yet!

Well, obviously the big news tonight was the introduction of the ‘instant homerun replay box that calls New York’, which I think will accomplish the following; have at least one non-A’s fan still awake in New York watching West Coast games. This technology will not be used very often (our announcers think there was only one instance this year in Oakland where it may have been needed), but it will get the homerun calls right.

In other big news, the A’s actually looked like--dare I say it--a real baseball team for the first time in a while. I don’t know to what exactly I should attribute this; it may be Rajai Davis playing some good baseball, the return of Ryan Sweeney to the lineup, Daric Barton pretending he actually could blossom as a major leaguer after his rookie year, or the excellent starting pitching and bullpen relief, but something seemed different with the A’s tonight. This game was extremely watchable, and if you like defense, both clubs certainly flashed some leather here and there. 

The game started on a ominous note for Dana Eveland, as Patterson failed to make a routine play for the first out, and Crosby followed that up by not being able to stop a single right by him, but Crosby righted the ship and caught a screaming line drive that he turned into a double play to end the inning. 

Rajai Davis led off the A’s first with a single, but the parade of hitters behind him was unable to send him home.

The game remained scoreless until the fourth, as Hannahan made a nice play in the top of the inning to keep a two-out double from scoring, and moments later,  the A’s mounted their own threat. Frank Thomas led off with a double, bringing up the newly promoted Sweeney, R, who was missed desperately by the A’s (and the AN girls). Sweeney shot a single up the middle to bring Frank around to third, putting runners on the corners with no one out.

In a season where things go the A’s way, Daric Barton would have singled up the middle to score Frank and open a big inning. But because this is Post All Star Break 2008, the Twins turned an absolutely amazing double play on Barton’s ball, where the second baseman flipped the ball to the base while he was falling to the ground on a dive, allowing only the single run to score from third, robbing Barton of the RBI.

But Barton was heard from again, as he made a great catch in the bottom of the sixth inning for the first out, ranging all the way over to the crowd to make a basket catch in the stands, which helped minimize Eveland’s only scary inning of the game. Thanks to a couple of singles, a double steal, an intentional walk, and sacrifice fly, the game became tied at one.

Crosby opened the A’s half of the sixth with a double that very nearly tested the new instant-replay equipment, but missed the top of the wall by about a foot. It looked like he might be stranded there, but Daric Barton (who is hitting like a legit major league baseball player this week) singled with two outs to bring him home, giving the A’s a 2-1 lead.

It would last for about seven minutes.

The Twins received some help in the top of the seventh, courtesy of an unlikely Oakland outfielder, as Sweeney, R, misjudged a ball in the lights that went for a double, and later, a run. But Rajai Davis preserved the 2-2 tie by coming out of nowhere to make an excellent catch to prevent a sure extra-base hit and another run.

All told, Dana Eveland had a great start, leaving after seven full; the game tied at two. He is a world away from the pitcher he was last month, and he wasn’t facing a weak team; Minnesota is playoff-contending. Eveland was replaced by Blevins, who pitched an uneventful eighth, and Joey Devine handled the ninth, keeping the score tied at two. It is worth noting that both Devine and Ziegler's ERA's are currently under 1.

After eight and a half innings of what felt like real baseball, the A’s had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth, as Sweeney led off with a single and Barton (what can’t he do!?) bunted him to second. Emil Brown pinch-hit for Hannahan and walked, bringing up Suzuki to pinch-hit for Bowen.

I could end the story right there. Suzuki roped the ball out into the outfield for the walk-off hit, and the A’s have now won their second game in a row; both wins against very good teams. It doesn’t make up for the last month, but it’s the little things right now that can give us hope. And today went a long way in helping us remember why we watch this game.

Same time, same place tomorrow, as the A’s play the game after “Ziggy Day”, the ceremony where they honor Brad Ziegler for the amazing start to his career. Anyone who is going to the game with a camera, we’d like pictures!

Fresh off a completely unexpected series win in Anaheim this week, the A's are at it again a day later, taking on the Minnesota Twins tonight in Oakland.

Taking the mound for the green and gold tonight will be Dana Eveland, mentioned positively in the Wolff interview, and looking to repeat his excellent performace last week against Seattle. Eveland spent a couple of weeks in the minors recently, working on his windup, and he is hoping that the effort will pay off again tonight.

The A's "offense" will be facing RHP Nick Blackburn, who is looking to continue the Twins' push for the AL Central lead. They are just a game out, and very much in the hunt. In other words, they will be playing hard.

That won't be a problem for our fearless crew, as the A's audition for the role of spoiler tonight. Late breaking news shows Carlos Gonzalez actually back at AAA and Sweeney, R reactivated.

LET'S GO OAK-LAND!

I think we could probably dig up almost every recap since the All-Star break and substitute it for this game’s, and you would never know the difference. The A’s had good (not great) starting pitching, excellent bullpen work, and little to no offense; losing the game, and the series.

That about sums it up.

 In other A’s news, the rumor is that both Duchscherer and Gallagher have been shut down for the season (no real surprise on either).

If you’re looking for the good news today, Dallas Braden looked competent out on the mound, keeping a pretty good line through five until getting into a jam in the sixth, and Huston Street looked like the pre-2008 Huston, as he got out of the bases-loaded jam in the sixth (saving Braden further damage), and pitched a perfect seventh, as well.

Embree came in to pitch a perfect eighth, and with that, the A’s pitching did their job, holding the Twins to 3 runs over 8.

However, pitching really wasn’t the problem today. That honor rests solely with the A’s offense. 

The A’s scored an unearned run right off the bat in the first on a single by Cust, but despite scoring chances the rest of the game, the A’s couldn’t plate another run. In fact, they didn’t get another hit after the fourth. The highlight of the late innings was Suzuki taking Nathan to a full count before flying out.

For those of you keeping track, the A’s have been held to 2 runs or fewer in thirty-five games this year. Correction: Despite what our announcers claim, we think it is actually fifty games at 2 runs or fewer. That’s almost unimaginably bad. That even overshadows their eleventh consecutive series loss.

The silver lining, I guess, is that the A’s now play the one team they might have a chance to beat; the Seattle Mariners. The A’s and Seattle hook up for four games this weekend, starting tomorrow night.

I recommend finishing the Olympics first.

Let's get some new thread mojo! Braden pitching pretty well; he has only given up 2 runs. Of course, the A's offense has only managed to score one, but that could change. Right? Right?

Good morning and welcome to another exciting day of A's baseball! The A's will try to win their first series since 2006 who knows as they send Dallas Braden to the hill as the sacrificial lamb starting pitcher. The game starts bright and early this morning, so grab your coffee and radio and let's watch the A's win try to win not lose lose by only a little play baseball!

Braden will face Francisco Liriano and the Twins, who are just a game out of first in the Central, so they have everything to play for right now. On the other hand, the A's are just trying to win a series. But they have to start somewhere.

Some of us lived through the mid-to-late 1990's; we can live through this stretch too. Plus, all the cool people are in the game thread today (hint hint).

I get it, you know? It must be hard to drag yourself out onto the field day after day, playing for nothing, and winning so infrequently. I get how painful the A’s are right now--we know; we’re watching them, writing about them, counting the games down to the blessed end of the season. But would it kill the team to care for about 3 hours a day, if not for yourself, but for your teammate, who pitched so well, and obviously cares so much? Not that I blame them, but the team is doing a great impression of just playing out the season.

And I expected better from a player with Mark Ellis' professionalism; he certainly has been a culprit lately. This is the second play in as many Duchscherer starts that he appeared to be lackadaisical on a ball to his side; both of which led to Duchscherer losses.

And Duke certainly deserved better today, as once again, he pitched well enough to win and instead was handed the loss, after he had exited the game neither quietly nor willingly.  The only real blemishes on Duchscherer’s line tonight were the two towering homeruns hit by the Rays, and the runner he left on in the seventh when Ellis forgot he ever campaigned for a gold glove.

The A’s got on the board (and tied the game temporarily) in the fifth on a Patterson 2-RBI single that barely missed Pena’s glove, one of the few-and-far-between breaks that the A’s have received in the last six weeks. But the Rays scored a run in the seventh after Blevins relieved Duke, and the game was pretty much over from there.

It’s not that the A’s didn’t have their chances to score tonight; Suzuki was tagged out at the plate on an Ellis’ single early on (you have to send him there, despite the likely out; when this team has a base hit with two outs and a runner on second, you send the runner); Ellis hit into a rally-ending DP his next at-bat; and Daric Barton had possibly the worst pinch-hitting appearance of anyone’s career with the tying run on second; three straight fastballs for three strikes. The bat never left his shoulder.

The A’s tried to make it interesting in the ninth with a leadoff walk by Cust, but Rajai Davis was thrown out trying to steal on the first pitch. He probably should have waited on that one and let Crosby hit the dead-red fastball. But the A's needed the steal, and it was a chance worth taking.

Other game notes: Embree pitched the eighth, Street pitched a scoreless ninth, leaving two runners on base, and Emil Brown had a pinch-hit walk in the ninth.

The A’s try to win the series tomorrow against Shields.