A relatively tight game suddenly became a blowout as the A's put up 8 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to roll to a 13-2 victory.
Emil Brown, Ryan Sweeney, and Bobby Crosby each recorded three hits to lead a 15-hit A's attack.
Positives abound: Chad Gaudin threw a great game, the A's touched up Bannister for five runs in five innings, and the offense hopefully built some confidence going forward to carry into the rest of the series.
And we did it all while extending our consecutive games with an error streak on defense - eleven and counting! :)
0 recs | 56 comments
Errors are an overrated statistic.
Okay that is total BS but it’s funny right at this moment.
Way to go A’s!!
ohtobe21likehuston - April 18, 2008
So are Wins...
mf’n relief pitcher gives up a 2 run lead to tie the game and then his team wins the game. he gets the win. wins r overrated too!
drink409 - April 19, 2008
Fun stuff!
Fuzzy Bunnies for president!
oblique - April 18, 2008
ChewBobby
Jennifer - April 19, 2008
w00t!
that is all.
pam5981 - April 18, 2008
Bring back Wash!!!
El Cerrito Steve - April 18, 2008
Ohhh man, Send him, just once
Two times tonight He stopped someone he should have clearly sent…
Yourmyboyblue - April 18, 2008
I'm claiming credit for the 8th inning
And I’m really glad that the game wasn’t televised for more than 5 people, so that I can merely enjoy Crosby’s performance without complaining about how bad he still looked at the plate.
monkeyball - April 18, 2008
They
managed to not blackout the Royals feed here in Sarasota…
So why is it I feel like the neighborhood bully when we beat KC? I tried to explain it to the girl tonight, “Well, they’re poor like us, but they’ve made REALLY, REALLY poor choices.” That doesn’t quite cover it, though, does it? I clearly remember when this team was not the perennial whipped cur, but it’s becoming hazy…has the lack of a salary cap in baseball just killed baseball in KC?
Leopold Bloom - April 18, 2008
Kansas City Baseball...
(Disclaimer: I’m anything but an authority and we’d be better off hearing from a life long Royals fan. But that won’t stop me from pretending to be authoritative).
...a painfully small market, combined with the tightfistedness of Glass (their owner), and one of the worst GMs in baseball for a while (Allaird Baird, their previous one).
I also think that they kinda missed the wave of new stadiums, or got “caught in the middle” so to speak. Sure, they renovated their stadium, but that puts you in a bit of limbo: It’s hard to justify building a new one when you’ve pumped a lot of money into remodeling the old, and yet, a re-modeled stadium isn’t nearly as sexy as a shiny new one, with different gimmicks, a different name or address.
In short, they’re destined to be low-revenue relative to the baseball powers that be.
I think they’re on the way up though, as evidenced by their young talent and surprising start. They don’t play in the same division as the Yanks and Red Sox, so they got that goin’ for them.
notsellingjeans - April 18, 2008
Yes, but
we got kinda caught in the middle too with the stadium run, or at least we’re late to join the party. And as much as there was to respect about Schott and Hoffman (mainly that they kept the A’s in NorCal), they weren’t exactly throwing any extra ducats around, either.
So…I suppose my real question can be reduced to: Is Billy Beane the only reason we’re not the Royals?
Leopold Bloom - April 18, 2008
Basically
Then again, the GM of the Rays is the only reason why the current Rays aren’t the Rays of 5 years ago… any team’s success is hugely dependent on capable personnel decisions.
PaulThomas - April 19, 2008
But
they’re still the Rays. I’ve been there. It’s not…pretty.
Leopold Bloom - April 20, 2008
On Extra Innings just now
A caller, “Jake from Benicia”, claimed to have contributed to the moment that Pena let the ball drop by yelling “I GOT IT!” at a crucial juncture. Buan pooh-poohed the notion that any major league player would fall for that one. The next caller up was “Sarah from Fremont” who said she’d been sitting in the same section and said there was no doubt that Pena had been fooled.
Englishmajor - April 18, 2008
And...
“Judge Smails from Bushwood” claims it was him yelling, “Miss it!”
Leopold Bloom - April 18, 2008
That play was just ridiculous
Teahen wasn’t within 30 feet of the ball or Pena when Pena backed off. It certainly looked like he thought he had heard Teahen call him off.
Besides the Crosby funfest, I have to think I got to see Hideo Nomo’s final major league appearance. If you can’t even mop up successfully there’s no place in the game for you. A fun night at the ballyard…a little chilly, but I had about 6 layers on. Many people in the neighborhood appeared to be April night game newbies.
Soaker - April 18, 2008
That would be "Sara-No-H From Fremont!" ;)
BobbyCrosbysGirl - April 18, 2008
Ah HA!
I was going to mention that “Sara” was extremely enthusiastic about a certain shortstop….
Englishmajor - April 18, 2008
Would you expect anything less?
=D
BobbyCrosbysGirl - April 18, 2008
While Zak without a C tried out some new guitars
JediLeroy - April 19, 2008
Crosby looked AWESOME tonight
Gaudin had an incredible last 4 innings himself.
And Buck…well…
baseballgirl - April 18, 2008
...
...um…...
.................his hair looked good!
Leopold Bloom - April 18, 2008
Omigod, didn't it???
Yay, Trevor!!!!!!
Cindi
Nico - April 19, 2008
Hey...
How do I get a cool avatar? A guy disappears off the face of the earth for six months (coma, spy mission, car crash, old Soviet enemies—pretty boring stuff) and you rearrange the whole living room. Sheesh.
Leopold Bloom - April 19, 2008
Hey, he got the sac fly!
Baby steps, Travis, baby steps.
Had he failed twice in a row with runner on 3rd, less than 2 out I was getting ready to jump on board with the notion of celebrating his Bobblehead Day by demoting him to Sacramento.
Soaker - April 18, 2008
Don't step
on my Buck.
Leopold Bloom - April 18, 2008
DARN...
And I OF COURSE I had to miss this game. =[
surfinsushi - April 18, 2008
I feel like I missed it...
...a cold and a long day made me sleep through runs 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13….
FormerHuntsvilleStar - April 19, 2008
Travis Buck bobblehead tomorrow...
will there be enough fans there to give all 15,000 away?
FoolshGame22 - April 18, 2008
If not, get an extra one for me, I can't go! :( Gotta take my 12 yr. old McNugget to Patterson AND Madera for soccer games.
McFood - April 18, 2008
poor Travis...
Geren moves him down to #8 and he goes 0 for 4 (with a RBI). How bout Croz though? Does he lead the AL in RBI’s yet? I’ll have to look that up. Haters beware… Croz is gonna get that MVP yet!
FoolshGame22 - April 19, 2008
there ALWAYS are more than enough
for bobbleheads, blankets, jerseys, etc., giveaways
OaklandSi - April 19, 2008
I was at the game.
It was a blast…in all ways !
IM4Oakgal - April 19, 2008
The Dan Johnson curse is over!!!
Yeah right! The A’s are gonna be in big trouble if Crosby is the HR leader for the year…
Oaktownflav - April 19, 2008
Or is it the 1B-to-Rays curse?
Dan Johnson: 40 HRs?
Nico - April 19, 2008
Emil Brown
went 3-5 with 3 RBI?! He’s hittin’ .291 …. crap, this guy SUCKS!!! Why the hell is he on our team?! For the life of me, I just can’t figure it out … stupid GM.
I’ve finally seen the light guys …... IDIOTS!!!!!!!!
Vacafan - April 19, 2008
He's also hitting around .500 with RISP,
just like all our guys usually do. He could stand to hit the f-ing cutoff man, though.
Nico - April 19, 2008
No doubt
Vacafan - April 19, 2008
Yes he's definitely clutch
and the .500 BA with RISP is totally sustainable.
/end sarcasm
I’m happy for his successes so far, but a .750 OPS corner OF is pretty close to replacement level.
MrIncognito - April 19, 2008
Brown is also considered an outstanding defender in LF by UZR,
and can play CF in a pinch.
WaddellCanseco - April 19, 2008
Anyone know why Mike Sweeney
wasn’t in the lineup last night? You had to figure he wanted desperately to play against his former team.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 19, 2008
Well, it's tough to put
both Brown and Sweeney in the lineup vs. RHP. You’d have to pull either Cust, Barton or Buck. Pulling Buck might be logical but I think Geren was emphasizing the tinkering with the batting order and wanted to have a look at Buck in the 8 spot.
Barton has played darn near every inning so far. I expect him to get a strategic day off today or tomorrow with Sweeney at 1B.
Soaker - April 19, 2008
I guess so
But right now, I want Sweeney out there more than Cust.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 19, 2008
Lousy choice for Geren, based on small sample
Sweeney vs. RHP (30 PA): .179/.233/.250
Cust vs. RHP (41 PA): .156/.341/.250
Opposing right-handers love seeing the cleanup spot come up in the A’s lineup.
Soaker - April 19, 2008
yeah, neither are good choices right now
OaklandSi - April 19, 2008
It's an easy decision
Peripheral OPS through 4/18:
Cust – .909
MSweeney – .750
The fact that Cust’s balls are finding defenders is no reason to bench him.
MrIncognito - April 19, 2008
I was about to add that while Cust
doesn’t appear to have adjusted fully yet to opposing pitchers’ adjustments (and the jury’s still out on whether he will), M Sweeney’s bat speed looked pretty slow at games where I’ve watched him bat.
I’d agree that Cust is a better option than MSweeney; there’s no doubt a better chance that Cust makes the necessary adjustments, than that MSweeney will at age 34 increase his bat speed. Cust may not ever hit much better against lefties, but there are more right-handed pitchers. In his prime MSweeney didn’t have such a big difference facing left vs right handed pitchers…but he’s no longer in his prime.
OaklandSi - April 19, 2008
actually ...
... (not having seen last night’s game, but Cust did have another ringing single) Cust has been adjusting really well the last week or so, kind of “resetting” himself and crushing fastballs away to LF/left center. Now, granted, he’s not elevating them and they’re only going for singles, but he’s adjusting to the league’s adjustment to him, and he’s hitting them hard.
Plus, he’s remaining true to his plate discipline.
monkeyball - April 19, 2008
I'm not sure what "Peripheral OPS" is
but based on your additional comment I’m guessing it somehow incorporates BAbip and therefore reduces the importance of strikeouts.
So then I wonder, when you are comparing Sweeney (1 K in 59 PA overall) vs. Cust (19 K in 58 PA overall), two players at extreme ends of the Bell curve, does the comparison become apples and oranges? It seems that any stat that reduces the impact of the batter’s K rate would tend to be favorable to Cust…but maybe one of the stat people can tell me why I’m wrong.
Soaker - April 19, 2008
His balls are finding defenders?
When did Jack Cust become some kind of breeding stud?
grover - April 19, 2008
I, for one, have always defended Jack Cust's balls
Nick - April 19, 2008
By "Peripheral OPS" do you mean PrOPS ("Predicted OPS")?
I wasn’t aware that batted ball data had been sufficiently studied for its predictive powers to make any “easy decisions” based on them.
WaddellCanseco - April 19, 2008
To all:
Sweeney vs. Cust against RHP is a very easy decision…
mikeA - April 19, 2008
day game today, so fox blackout
I wondered what was up with no M. Sweeney too.
ak_A - April 19, 2008
lousy opposing pitching
is great medicine for anemic hitting.
Good to see Gaudin pitching well. In the postgame show he talked about just starting to feel like he’s getting back to normal physically.
I am still very annoyed by sloppy defensive play.
I’m going to get ready in a little while to go to today’s (Saturday) game. i’m looking forward to watching Greg Smith in person.
OaklandSi - April 19, 2008
Don't look now...
But Crosby is leading the team in runs, doubles, total bases, SLG, and OPS. Also, he’s tied for the team lead in hits (Suzuki), HR’s (Ellis), and RBI’s (Brown).
danmerqury - April 19, 2008
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