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5 In the First Not Good Enough As A's Get Rocked 14-7

"at Colorado" often means football scores like today's 14-7 slugfest, but the game wasn't at Coors Field so it's a bit of a stretch to blame the altitude for the struggles A's pitchers had after being staked to a 5-0 lead.

The best news on the pitching front was that Trevor Cahill seemed immune to the difficulties of the day, tossing 3 solid innings of 2 hit, 1 run baseball. Cahill did not record a strikeout but still appears to have only helped his cause of claiming a spot in the A's rotation - or at least at AAA to await the first "flat tire."

Matt Holliday, facing his former team for the first time, collected 2 of the A's 8 hits and is now batting a clean .409 for the spring. Did you catch the pun there?

Up 5-1 entering the bottom of the 4th, Oakland gave up "5-spots" in each of the 4th and 5th innings - oops. Culprit #1 was Chris Schroder, who can't afford to have too many stinkers, but who allowed all 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in 0.2 IP. Culprit #2 was Sean Gallagher, touched for the identical 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in 0.2 IP. Gallagher may still be weak from the flu that canceled his scheduled start on Sunday; if not, his outing hardly inspires one to contemplate that he could be in line to start on Opening Day in Anaheim.

My question to you as you ponder today's action: Here on March 10th, in a part of the season (spring training) that clearly matters less for players assured of roster spots, does an outing like Gallagher's cause you any concern? Or is it just another in the endless string of "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!" March developments that always only seems relevant until the real season begins?

0 recs  |  169 comments

Comments

It's a bit like American Idol

and the judges are Beane, Young and Geren. If Simon doesn’t like you two or three times in a row— with 8-9 other singers competing— you’re gone. So we’ll give Gallagher one mulligan for the flu, but one more bad outing and I think he’s in trouble. MAC and Gio are all doing well— Gallagher is hardly a lock.

On the contrary

Short of giving up 10 runs in every following start and/or getting injured I think Gallagher is assured of a rotation spot. Of course he could be removed if he stinks it up in the regular season but along with Eveland and Braden I expect him to be on the Opening Day roster.

I tend to agree, Helloooo 1st

I think Gallagher is one of the pitchers who isn’t needing to prove anything in spring training – he’s in. What could change that is injury or a big change in basic things like velocity or ability to throw strikes. Getting hit around the yard isn’t going to cost him a spot in the rotation if he’s throwing hard and not going all Rick Ankiel or something. Look at Joe Kennedy’s ST stats when he “won” the #5 spot.

I'm not hardly as concerned about Gallagher...

as I am about Schroder. Chris Schroder is going to make the roster and be in our bullpen!

Really? Chris Schroder?

Damn, Swooney didn’t get a hit? That’s real cause for concern.

I dont think he will if he keeps this up

And if he improves then he should be in the pen.

and, if Crosby improves...

he should be our everyday shortstop. So, yeah, I agree.

No Crosby should not

At least Schroder has had some form of success recently

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE
Meh

This kind of stuff happens in the spring. Maybe he was working on a tweak in his mechanics. Maybe he was working on a particular pitch. Maybe it was just a really bad day to be Sean Gallagher. He should turn it around and leave bad lines like today’s behind him.

Not a fan

  So far gallgher made 1 good start last season and a bunch of bad starts since that time. Of the starters on the bubble I would say Gallgher and Gio and the 2 most disapointing.

nice pun

clean as the bald guy on the 409 bottle… er…

i like K-hill

I'm ready for 410.
And 420, undoubtedly.
I don't get the 420 reference.

Just kidding.

I couldn't remember it, then couldn't remember it again,

then lost interest and just sat there.

What were we talking about?
Snurl...!

{drools a little}

I thought it was really far out untill i needed to go get some chips
Huh? Fritos, please.

Are you going to Jack In The Box?

Just pencil Cahill in the rotation already!

It’s obvious the kid has it.. I understand not wanting him to throw too many innings, but we have the lineup this year..! And look at Tim Lincecum, he looks like my 12yr old brother, was rushed, and hasn’t looked back.

I'm really not trying to be a WBC booster

but the Netherlands and La Republica Dominicana are going to the bottom of the 9th, scoreless. (the Dutch are the “home” team). This is pretty amazing stuff.

I think that Gallagher is safe, and I’m not worried about today, but I also think that we’re getting closer to seeing one of MAC as the #5 starter. Jerome and Edgar will still be given every opportunity to prove they don’t suck.

I think Jerome may have pitched himself out of consideration

When you look at how solid Edgar Gonzalez has been (granted, coming off Winter Ball has given him an edge) AND how Mazzaro, Cahill, and Anderson have looked, Jerome’s two recent performances make it unlikely he’ll wrestle a spot away from his competition.

Agreed.

But in his next appearance, if he goes, say, 4 scoreless innings, he could easily be back in the mix.

He'll definitely benefit from the fact that there are 3+ more weeks

in the Cactus League. I’m not all that concerned about his stats, but looking at the stats he doesn’t appear to be either a strike-throwing machine, nor a bat-missing machine, right now. It’s early enough for him to get back in the mix, but I don’t think it’s “his spot to lose” and entering spring training he probably had as good a shot as any due to his experience and track record (which was a lot better than Edgar’s).

Gallagher will be fine

Gio on the other hand is a head case and too immature for the rotation at least. IMO.

He gets rattled too easy and resorts to throwing meatballs. Another 3 or 4 mph on his fastball wouldn’t hurt either. I am sure he will benefit from more experience

A trip to the "3 to 4 MPH store" should do it.

I think they’re open Tuesday-Sunday.

Parking is sooo bad at that store this time of year
Well they are in pretty high demand in March

You need to catch one of their “After X-Mas” sales.

Chavez or Duke could loan him

his “handicapped parking” sticker and get him a little closer to the entrance.

speaking of Chavez:

Ralph Barbieri on KNBR today said, “Eric Chavez won’t even play 40 games this year…..he’s done!”

I didn’t realize he was on the A’s medical staff…..

douche!

he's probably right...

but, you are, too. Barbieri is a douche.

exactly.....you get my point at least.
he was interviewing john bryant

the santa clara center and wcc player of the year the other day and he went on a nice little tangent on how his alma mater, university of san francisco, is so bad at basketball etc. and joked about how boring it must be to play them without realizing that santa clara lost to them this year. really lacking in class and preparation

santa clara lost to usf this year?

as an alum, I want that coach fired!!! But, I guess I’d only have some pull if I donated money, eh? Sorry, I’m tryin’ to keep my family out of the depression breadline. Polly not gonna be successful at that, but thanks for the degree.

yup

and as a student i wanted that coach fired. then i collected my thoughts and realized, we suck, and got over it.

I'm enjoying it.

Competitive baseball is much more fun to watch than ST (though it doesn’t help that the A’s are never on).

Me too. Desperate for real babseball.
Yet, in the grand scheme of baseball, spring training games are infinitely more important than the WBC
I understand that the WBC is just a pile of crappy hype,

but it’s much better than soccer, bowling, or the stupidity of the world series of poker.

The WBC is not better than soccer.
of course, it's better than soccer...

and bowling.

But, not the World Series of Poker. That’s the freakin’ World Series!

I've never understood the attraction of watching poker.
I'm not sure...

Chess, with way more personality among the players. And, big money at stake. That always makes things more interesting.

Chess players could be 10 times more charming than that Arnold on Green Acres...

and chess would never get the attention poker does. Games last too many moves, even the speed and lightning games. And the TV doesn’t tell you the win probability in real time.

which begs the question...

is giving another man’s wife a foot massage enough of a reason to get thrown out a window.

Don’t you think the computing power is good enough these days for them to show win probability on TV in real time for chess?

It'd need cheerleaders.
Reminds me of

that SNL skit with Will Ferrel and Sherry Oteri where they reprise their roles as cheerleaders at a chess tournament.

mikeA needs to see that
unfortunately, "real time"

doesn’t fit in particularly well with programming schedules, i’d guess.

though, they could sell a lot of advertising slots

I don't know. After something like 12 moves you're probably playing a game that's never been played before.
I was thinking that. Chess seems pretty

unpredictable to me, even if there are strategies (as I understand it).

Poker on the other hand is pretty straightforward in terms of statistics, it’s the human factor that provides the drama (for some).

the further you get into a game of chess...

the more limited the options become. Seems to me, it should become more predictable, by a computer, the further in you get. But, I’m no chess genius, so maybe not.

The more limited the reasonable options become.

The ridiculous options are practically infinite.

I guess you might be right that perhaps a computer could calculate win probability fairly accurately even though the prediction of actual individual moves would be mostly impossible.

yes, of course, they don't predict...

individual ridiculous bluffs or calls in the WSOP, either. Merely, win probablility. The computer would have to crunch more numbers in chess, but it seems to me it could be done.

Not that I’d watch unless there were a few million on the line, but… just sayin’.

is 1.5 million enough?

cause that’s how much money the winner of the WCC gets…

Well, they predict the probability of which cards will wind up best

which doesn’t tell you the probability of who will actually win the hand. Computers can give a reasonable estimate of who is ahead in chess and by how much, but who wins depends on whether the player makes good moves.

The best chess computers can easily beat the best humans at this point, I think in poker it is more or less a draw.

have you read Bobby Fischer Goes to War?

i guess it depends what you mean by personality. Granted, chess players don’t have TV type personalities, but I find it pretty fascinating.

or maybe i’m just a contrarian.

in no way, shape form, or by any stretch of the imagination is the WBC better than soccer

and i quite like the WBC, too

What's soccer?
only the most fun ever
if you enjoy watching grass grow...

or paint dry.

I've had much more fun doing other things

than trying to watch soccer

Like gardening.
now we're just listing all of the things i love
beekeeping?
we do have beehives in our garden

but i’m not the apiarist

You do have an apiarist wit.
i'm not sure i understand this
We have an old time saying

that when someone is clever, they have a rapier wit, referring to the type of sharp sword. Some have turned that saying into a joke, replacing rapier with rapist, and in your case “apiarist wit”. Stupid American joke, but I found it funny.

ohhhh

i get it. sorry.

i figured it was something like that, but hadn’t heard the rapier / rapist crossover.

Proving we do have common interests.
it was the a's that brought us together

but gardening that made our love strong

Waiting for spring here in the US

Baseball and gardening!

easy there tiger!

I happen to love the WSOP.

Hold that tiger!

You and six or seven other people love the WSOP.

You have got to be kidding me.
Phenominal game.

I hope you are still watching.

Keeps getting better...
Holy shit

The Dutch just tied it back up at 1 in the 11th. Incredible.

geez.

yay gameday and “In play, run(s) scored”

how is this not on TV?

the let’s-get-it-over-with rule starts in the 12th, right?

13th
found a stream online.

thank you, mlb network?
this is kind of amazing.

THEY WON!

OH MY GOD THEY WON!

Simply wow!

Unreal.

geeeeez.

another error?!

That's awesome.

Though that’s why baseball is decided by series.

All credit to the Dutch.

Dominican Republic scores the game's first run in the top of the 11th

Netherlands comes back in the bottom to score 2 and win.

Netherlands advances, DR goes home…

Gallagher was sick as a dog with the flu…let’s wait and see how he does when healthy before pronouncing him dead.

SuSlu:

Sean Gallagher gave up four hits, two walks and five runs Tuesday, but he was still feeling wiped out after a bout of stomach flu left him 10 pounds lighter. He said he felt “zapped” after five pitches and he downed five bottles of water right after his 2/3 innings.

Also:

Eric Chavez said that the discomfort he’s experiencing in his twice-repaired right shoulder is believed to be adhesions from his August surgery, so he is getting shockwave treatment to break up the scar tissue. Chavez told The Chronicle that he still believes that he can be on the field for Opening Night if the shockwave treatment flushes the problem out.
Geez!

Hope everything comes out okay for Eric.

It can't be healthy drinking that much water in such a short time.
Especially when Daric Barton is trying to dive in
Chavvy, please flush twice

it’s a long way to the kitchen…

this might be advice to Gallagher too
But not to the postman

The postman never flushes twice.

I thought he Always Flushes Twice"?
Dear A's medical staff

When a guy just had the stomach flu, and just lost 10 pounds because of it, and is still feeling “wiped out,” it might be a wise idea NOT to let him pitch, or physically exert himself in any way.

Sincerely,
Concerned A’s fan

I was so mad that start in Minnesota where Gallagher

was left in to give up 10 ER (and later said the ball “felt like a feather coming out of his hand”). Hello: Maybe if a guy is serving up batting practice instead of 95 MPH cheese, he doesn’t need to keep pitching late in the season in a game that has already gotten away?

Didn't you give Geren some sort of positive grade a few weeks ago?

This is the sort of thing that is, IMO, an offense worthy of a fairly quick firing. You just don’t do what he did that night. I don’t care if Gallagher said he was ok (he didn’t, as far as I know); as a manager you can’t kill a kid like that.

I think if you fired a manager for one decision like that

every manager would be fired. And certainly, Curt Young was in on the decision. I would certainly put that among my “top three things Geren did that infuriated me,” but I wouldn’t fire a manager over any one “bad decision” when even the best make dozens a year.

I think potentially ruining the arm of a player who is clearly not right is worth of a firing

It’s not that he let the guy give up runs. I’m ok with letting a rookie take a bit of a pounding if he’s healthy. When I talk about ruining him, I mean physically.

But I think Geren should be fired anyway. He seems totally incapable of handling a pitching staff.

Does anyone know why Cuba play in pyjamas?
In Cuba, pajamas play you.
In pajamas,

you play for Cuba

does anyone else think its funny that the MLB doesn't sell team Cuba jerseys or hats?
maybe they're not allowed to?
Maybe they realised nobody would buy them because they look awful.
haha...

you misspelled “realized.”

that's actually not true

check out this link

HOLY CRAP.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

Down goes the DR!

Good i hated the DR team. All a bunch of show offs if you ask me. And Reyes is the leader. They all jumping around and dancing before the games even over. Servers them right.

No DR

  So glad a upset. I was hoping for the italians but they gave it a good go. I will be cheering for Nederlands. Good pitching always beats good hitting.

And a good health care system beats a delicious pizza
Depends how much of that pizza you have.
NETHERLANDS
Well the Dutch colonies, really.

I wonder how good a Commonwealth team would be…

Pretty good if the Kiwis can use a cricket bat
That's amazing!

I was searching for streaming vid when it happened. The DR got served, for sure!

A caller on The Score in Chicago kept calling them "Neanderthal" the other day

He was properly mocked.

I linked to this in the DLD

But I think it’s awesome enough to link twice. Great article on Ziggy

Not to be "that guy" or anything

But the “at Colorado” thing still sorta applies here. The Rockies play home spring training games in Tuscon, and while the elevation there is not quite Denver, it’s still about 2400 feet and a thousand feet higher than any other Cactus League city.

Do you happen to know the average score in Tucson

compared to everywhere else in the Cactus League? And I don’t mean to be “that guy,” but it’s Tucson, not Tuscon. OK, I might mean to be “that guy.”

Tucson's minor league park (presumably the same) has a big park factor about the same as Coors over the last 4-5 years

I’ll be Guy #3 and note that when referring to a word, such as “Tucson,” instead of using a word, the referred-to word should be surrounded by quotation marks.

I'll be Guy #4 and point out that you should have used an en dash in "4–5 years"
I'll be Guy #4.1 and point out that I shouldn't have replaced your dash with an en dash in the quote
Guy #5

The clause “instead of using a word” undermines the coherence of your comment.

Bah! Still, I know how it's spelled. I just didn't proofread (and, oddly, no red line appeared under it)

But I don’t know the scores. Mostly I posted that because I find it interesting that Colorado plays it’s spring games at a high elevation. I wonder if that’s intentional.

sir, i do not understand your 409 based pun

pleased to be explaining?

"A clean .409"

What does “409” do?

Oh ho ho ho ho!!!!!!!

i don't know?!?!?1111/////
It cleans those pesky bloodstains.
ok. i think this is something i am still learning about america.
There is a cleaning solution sold in America called Formula 409.
oh...

in england, we just let the dogs lick stuff clean.

Depends what part of England you come from I suppose...
well, in the southwest, at any rate. maybe in the north it's different. do you use coal?
So you're from the SW and you support Liverpool?

That’s just not on.

yeah, sorry

a product of having parents from liverpool, and growing up in the 80s. what chance did i have??

There's always a chance.
nah.... once you have a team, you can't change

even with the seduction of st james’ park (the real one, not the one in newcastle) just around the corner

Hmmm, perhaps.

My parents let me choose my own team (my dad taking me to Maine Rd a few times and my uncle to Boundary Park in an effort to sway me.).

i've probably seen exeter

and for that matter, bristol city (not the Rovers, obviously) more times than i’ve seen liverpool, but still. especially now I live over here – they show more of the trojans than the graecians.

none of which matters, of course, after sticking four past Real Madrid. woo!

I will never let my sons choose their own...

baseball team. Ugh, left to their own devices, they might choose the Giants.

Here’s where a father’s guidance is most important.

yeah, actually

once my dad was sure that i was supporting liverpool he let my younger brother go for his own team. he chose Blackburn

Your brother is very wise.
yes, i'm very happy for him

he used to live in oldham for a while, too.

wait, are you my brother?

actually, he’s applying for a job in New York at the moment. I’ve told him if he supports the Yanks, we may not stay friends

What if he chose the Mets?
see, i don't know

i’d be happy he’d got in to baseball, but at the same time….

New York is really just a cesspool of sporting evil, isn’t it?

I couldn't answer that, I don't follow

half the sports that are played there.

All he needs to do is watch a day of baseball games and he’ll be hooked. It’s addictive.

maybe i can persuade him to go up to Troy

and watch the Tri-city Rivercats…

The who?
first baseball team i saw

when i went to see my grandmother up there.

it’s in upstate new york.

i loved it. a lot.

Fair enough, each to their own.

I think choosing a sports team is an important process though – I’d hate to be a Manchester City fan, for example just because my father was.

I'm assuming that to be a Manchester City fan...

is a bad thing… as derogatory an insult as accusing one of being a band-wagon hopping Whiner fan.

I really don’t know because I have no idea who or what Manchester City is… but, i’m assuming from the context, not good.

No, no it's not an insult.

It’s a football (soccer) team that plays in Manchester – technically the only one as Manchester United play in Trafford, but I digress.

What I was getting at is that I would not be happy being a Manchester City fan through my father forcing me to support them just because he does. I have few ties to the city (I was born there and have relatives there, but I live 40+ miles away, which in England is a long way!) so I don’t see how I could ‘fall in love’ with the team…..and I’m a great believer that you have to fall in love with your sports teams, they’re a form of escapism after all.

i definitely agree with the latter part

as for the first, it really really annoys me when commentators over here call Manchester United “Manchester”, as if there were no other team there.

Calling Bristol City “Bristol” would be fine, however.

You really don't like the Gasheads do you!

Such a bizarre nickname.

yeah, no. well, i'm playing it up a bit

Those from the south of the river in Bristol (and hence, Somerset etc) tend towards City (the Robins? that makes way more sense. clearly), and those from the north, to the Gas.

Most of my friends support them, so it amuses me to rip on them a bit

I never knew ESPN....

was headquartered in the UK. Learn something new every day. ;-)

Australia take the lead against Cuba, 4-2

They need a new director though, he’s cutting to the wrong cameras – such as cutting to the shot of the batter reaching first rather than showing the play at the plate.

On that note, the Australians look like they raided the A's

kit locker, whilst the Cubans look like they’ve just arrived from a pyjama party.

KIT! Wooo!!

It’s nice to have limeys talkin sometimes! You’re my proxy to REAL footy!

oh boy.

I work on broadcasts for USC baseball, and … yeah, it can be rather difficult sometimes. but then again, we’re 4 camera and a replay, and hopefully we show one or the other at some point.

but we’ve definitely made that mistakes umpteen times.

i just can't type today.
I do a similar job at Blackburn Rovers, when they broadcast

their own games that is. The difference being our director is very good. It was a fundamental mistake by the director of the Australia game – really should be able to prioritize (we did get to see the play at the plate on replay, but that’s not the point!). Oh well, I enjoyed the game regardless.

By the way, Nico...

very nice fanpost title (headline).

Booo, some fat kid in the aformentioned pyjamas has

just hit a pinch hit homer in the top of the 8th to put the Cubans back in the lead.

I’m still rooting for the upset.

upset not to be

tomorrow Australia plays Mexico…the winner does advance.

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