SB Nation - Login for mobile commenting

Athletics Nation

A Day to Remember: Kennedy Stays Hot in A's 6-1 Win

Adam Kennedy continues to amaze and the A's are all the better for it.

On a brilliant sun-shiny day at the Coliseum, the newly acquired second-basemen was penciled into the top spot of the batting order and responded in Rickey-fashion, going 4-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases, a run scored, and two RBI's in Oakland's 6-1 victory over Seattle.

Kennedy is now batting a sizzling .431.

Brett Anderson went six innings in posting his second big league win.

After the right-hander worked out of a mini-jam in the top of the first, controversy ensued in the bottom half.  With Kennedy taking off from first after a lead-off walk, Kurt Suzuki was called out on strikes as Kennedy stole second. While replays showed that Suzuki was merely trying to avoid interfering with the throw to the base, Bob Geren and hitting coach Jim Skaalen vehemently argued the call, with Skaalen given the heave-ho.  Undeterred by all the commotion, Kennedy promptly swiped third, and scored on a hard-hit ground ball by Jack Cust, as Jose Lopez bounced his throw past catcher Kenji Johjima.

Anderson tried to sneak a fastball past Johjima, and the backstop tied the game with a booming homerun to left with one out in the second.

At first glance, the bottom third of today's posted A's lineup did nothing to inspire.  Unless we're counting laughter.  Such was the sad state of the much-maligned trio of Travis Buck (.215 heading into today's game), Bobby Crosby (.215), and Jack Hannahan (.186).

But the joke was on us- and more significantly, the Mariners- as the 7-8-9 hitters combined to go 4-for-8 with five runs scored, two RBI's, and one web gem.

Together they put the A's ahead to stay in the second inning.  Buck walked with one out and went to third on Crosby's single, sliding in ahead of the tag as Adrian Beltre bobbled the ball at the bag.  Hannahan turned on an off-speed offering from Chris Jakubauskas and doubled over Ichiro's head, driving in Buck with the lead run.  Kennedy followed with his own two-bagger down the first-base line to plate Crosby and Hannahan to make it 4-1.

Many times you see a player make a great play in the field and then lead off the bottom half of the inning.  Buck did it the other way around, with a homerun to start the fourth, and then went airborne to steal an extra base hit away from Beltre in the fifth, with two men on and no outs.

Anderson, as he did throughout, escaped with no runs added to his line, which read like this: 6IP, 1ER, 6H, 1BB, 2K.  Half of those hits came off the bat of Ichiro- none of which left the infield- who ran his hitting streak to nineteen games.

The A's tacked on one more run in the sixth.  With the bases loaded, Suzuki struck out (for real this time), but the ball skipped past catcher Rob Johnson, and Buck slid home safely for a 6-1 score.

It was not a game without flaws for Oakland, as Cust was thrown out at third on a ground ball to short in the first, but that play paled in comparison to the double-blunder in the fifth.  With Matt Holliday on first base, Jason Giambi mistakenly thought that he worked a walk and began his waltz to first base.  Holliday then took off for second, and as Giambi stood on first with his hands raised in confusion, Holliday was tagged out.

Other than those gaffes, it was a near-perfect day for the A's, and Kevin Cameron earned his first major-league save with three scoreless innings to seal the deal.

The AL West rivals do it again tomorrow at 7:05pm.

 

0 recs  |  221 comments

Comments

Gallagher had a great game today.

7 IP, 1ER, 4H, 2BB and 5Ks. On only 89 pitches!!

Thats what happens when you stop fucking around with the Kid

Pitchers have to get comfortable and into their routine. If your a starting pitcher you know your going to throw every 5th day with a bullpen in between. The way this organization has been screwing around with Gallagher he never knew when he was going to pitch. It would be nice to see them let him stay down until he finally gets stretched out but won’t happen.

if duke is hurt again, then we need gallagher to step up and pitch to his potential
Well, I tend to agree that they should give him a consistent role

But I also think that his great game has more to do with AAA hitters than routine.

Sadly, that's probably true. He hasn't thrown mid-90s

since that very first start for the A’s, and when he first threw he had tremendous movement on his fastball (like the one he could start right at the hitter and bring over the inside corner); lately not so much.

During his more trying starts...

… I try to think back to his first against the Angels after the A’s acquired him. Someday, Nico… someday, we may have that Sean Gallagher back.

Wouldn't that be nice?

There’s a reason the A’s wanted him and the Cubs didn’t want to part with him.

It didn't have to do with him being a crazy little headcase, did it?
It worked alright for Roger Clemens

but look at him now. Cheatin’ son-of-a-bich.

I just looked at the box score, and I have to confess that

89 pitches, 49 strikes makes me go “Meh.” But maybe at least it’s something to build on.

Oh dear.

That does not look promising. Sometimes it’s better not to look at the stats.

This is AN. You're not allowed to say that!
I mean... hey... alright

he pitched extremely well.

Sadly, my eyeball report is that

the number 49 looks a lot smaller relative to the number 89. :-(

I was just trying to please pam5981

and that is not an easy thing to do.

Try about an 1/8" to the left.
Gross.
The right?
That kind of information is not available to the public.
You put in an extra "l"
not avaiable?

not availabe?

(I meant you can't say the part about how it's better not to look at the stats.)
Interesting picture you've chosen for the game wrap....
I'm QUITE certain I want Nico's caption.
"You said I'd have an HVAC suit!

I’m not going in there without an HVAC suit."

Sadly

there wasn’t a lot to choose from (yet).

Hey, Adam Kennedy stays hot or Adam Kennedy gets even hotter?

Hmm, good point.

You’re hired.

Ah, excellent. I have a job.

Lucky we picked him up when we did

Now TB 2nd baseman Iwamura is out for the season with ACL damage. No doubt TB is frustrated that they gave away Kennedy too soon, and he’s red red hot.

He was a great pickup.
Padres on a 10-game streak

After trailing 7-1. Wow.

It all started with Peavy not leaving.
True.

And they’ll be saying the same thing soon about getting Kennedy. In fact, screw it, I’m going to the game tomorrow.

{runs}

NO!!!!!!!

Security, stop him!

Not on my watch.
I don't even wear a watch.
Hell no.
So we're in agreement.

We stop 67M from attending the game.

he 67M, can you go to the Padres game for me tomorrow?

In fact, go to any game other than the one in Oakland. Go far far far away. And I say that with all my AN love 67M, get the heck away from my team.

On the flip side

I have won my last two “thread” games.

Oh, and you all suck. But I say that with all my AN love.

Please go to the game tomorrow. You are soooo due.
Yes, do...

I’ll be there too.

Ooooh, you'll be at the game???

You mean, I might actually see you one of these days???? ;)

I KNOW!

I’m so excited to see you all again!

No, if you truly love your team,

you will stay here and do the game thread.

Have another glass of H8rade!
He only cares about himself.

Not the rest of us…

okay,

if you have to go, will you at least wear a disguise?

I was gonna wear a dress

Not really a disguise since that’s my normal Tuesday attire.

wear the mni

instead of the sun dress.

Maybe your legs will distract them.

They probably will. Not in a good way.
An even better idea

Since you appear to be the kiss of death to the home team, go to tomorrow’s Gnats game. Whatever dress you might choose to wear won’t even raise an eyebrow there.

I'd listen to him, Flounder. He's pre-med.
Lol at Fosse

Anybody catch Fosse not paying attention in the post game wrap? Lurie asked him a question about the 1st inning when the hitting coach got tossed and he started rambling about something entirley different. Kuiper could hardly keep from laughing. Oh and good win.

saw that, I think he had his earphones off

oh well, he got around to the real question anyway.
I watched Kuiper…funny.

LMAO

Seriously, dude…you gotta pay attention. Lurie was like, “That’s nice. Now answer the question I asked you dipsh*t!” He ended up reasking the question a second time.

Righteous Win...

Bitches.

Please pay more attention: G & Holliday. Do the right thing on the basepaths, Cust. Everything else was pretty righteous. I’m starting to sense a fairly decent winning run in June.

Reports on Anderson.

Didn’t get to catch this one, just the game-cast. Cutting down the walks obviously helps, but he still through over 100 pitches in only six innings, so I ask, should we worry? One plus, CBS had his velocity on the fastball ranging from 92-97 mph, with Anderson consistently hitting 93/94. That’s something to build on.

Worry?

Hell no. Anderson looks like the real deal.

yes, he did in fact hit 97 mph on the radar gun.

what a great way to come home from vacation to…..caught most of the game on the radio and the last couple innings on the tube. So can these guys just start winning already? I mean, I don’ think 3 in a row is unreasonable……go A’s!

Never looked 97MPH to me, or even close

More 89MPH-92MPH, which is just fine. He didn’t have quite the slider he had in Tampa, but he used it pretty effectively. He’s one of those guys who can win without his best stuff, and that’s saying something considering he’s 21.

The stadium gun put a couple at 93.
Could be - usually I find that the stadium is about 1-2 MPH

generous. But Anderson can definitely hit 93MPH, so I wouldn’t doubt it – especially if the stadium gun had him mostly around 90MPH as compared to, say, 92MPH. Because I didn’t think he was throwing especially hard today.

I think

vince said “95? on ste stadium gun” he sounded surprised

Right now, I'll take getting through 6 innings

Hopefully, down the road he’ll become more economical with his pitch count.

good and necessary win against a struggling team

that also happens to be just ahead of the A’s in the standings.

Tomorrow is another game…and needs to be another win.

A's just wanted to make it harder on themselves

theyve played well since the detroit weekend disaster, couldve easily been 6-2 since instead of 4-4. But these next 2 games are huge, they get destroyed by lefties and have to face washburn/bedard.If they are 4-5gb the rangers by the end of this weekend, anything is possible with 115 games to go

I'm not positive, but I think Willie from ALF

is on with Buan right now.

Niehaus is the man's last name
ALF's weakness was the slider low and away

No, wait, that’s Crosby. Nevermind.

ALF's weakness was cats.

In which case, we should send ALF over to O2B’s foyer to guard it from soul-eating cats.

Hey it's dark outside now and the room looks totally different

I’m afraid that the kitties still might be looking into my house but I just can’t see them. Scary.

They don't look into your house. They look into your *soul*

no, they eat your soul

after they look into your house.

Or sole
I must lock up my green and gold Nike's

because they are priceless.

oh, they'll definitely eat those, then.

damn cats are straight from hell.

ALF had no weaknesses

An A’s 2009 version of ALF might be:

Willy: Bob, the laws of baseball are the same all over the universe

Bob: Great! What are they?

I think a lot of people were confused by Giambi's faux walk

The scoreboard said the count was 3 and 2. Not that Holliday or Giambi should be looking to the scoreboard for the count, but I don’t think the ump was real clear about his calls.

Ever since the A's got blown out in game 1 vs. TB, they've looked like a whole new team

They could have won every game since then. I think we might be seeing our guys collectively turning the corner.

strangely, that was the last time I saw them.
Great day, great game.

Tailgated, had a few brats and a few beers, CAUGHT MY FIRST EVER FOUL BALL, and they won.

Oh and I ran into some chick who said she was from some A’s site or something. Pamcakes81 somethin or other.

Chicks will say anything to a dude with a foul ball.

You have to know this by now.

I've already drilled a hole through it.

I’m gonna wear it like a necklace.

Who the hell is Pamcakes81?
Some broad I ran into at the game.
I don't know who Pamcakes81 is....

but it looks like she’s making 5981 very jealous.

She was totally checking out my

foul ball.

Listen up, y'all

cause this is it.
The beat that I’m banging is delicious.

Loved her in Planet Terror

The music, not so much.

I kinda like the music too, but I'm afraid it's because I like looking at her.

she puts me on rock-rock, whatever the hell that is.

2 steps forward 3 steps back

  Hate to rain on the parade but every time the A’s win 2 in a row they lose the next 3. Buck a Kennedy was what the A’s needed some new blood to motivate the team. Facing 2 lefties will be scary and we will need 2 greta games pitched by Cahill and Braden.

I get your meaning, but Washburn doesn't scare me. Ever.
Being between Ray Ratto and a sandwich scares me...

…but not Jarrod Washedupburn

Imagine how the sandwich feels!
Ervin Santana is getting lit up.

7 runs given up and he’s yet to record an out in the 2nd inning.

That HR by Dye was launched over both bullpens

I replayed it five times and got enjoyment out of it everytime such is my disdain for the slegnA

LINK PLZ THX.
11-3 now, Thome just launched one and we're not even

out of the third. This makes up for missing the A’s game.

That was beautiful

Add another 11. I want to see their BP ERA go back up

12-3 in the 4th now.

slegnA implosion.

13-3
Great day to be in the AL West

If you’re an A’s fan. For the rest.. well not such a good day.

Now you know how they normally feel

after they see that we lost. Of course they probably aren’t looking over their shoulders to see what the A’s are doing anyway.

Okay, Debbie Downer.

Thought you were going to celebrate a couple victories today?

I thought you were still in the parking lot celebrating?

Please call me DAVID Downer.

Thanks,

David Downer

I am still celebrating.

But I’m at home, in my bed, under the covers. It’s been a long weekend, literally and figuratively.

I cranked my a/c on this weekend

and am looking forward to a cool night of sleeping after the Lakers game is over.

Let’s make it 3 wins tomorrow!

My two-month weekend started on Thursday.

I should get a job..

...i wanna two month weekend....
It's called being an unemployed student

It’s quite the life, I wonder how many baseball games I’ll make it to this summer..

Not to rain on your parade

but enjoy it while it lasts because you will always look back to those days and come to the realization that they will never come back.

Of course having money isn’t all that bad either. Going to work every day… that’s another story altogether.

Actually, if you're a teacher those days come back every year
:-(

I am not

I only wanted to be.

Then my evil, sadistic brother, angry at my socialistic leanings and disdain for accumulated wealth, decided to trick me into being part of the corporate blood machine. I am actively stealing the labor of others for my benefit now.

Well, THAT'S too easy.
Now we strike.

Let them get comfortable, and then BAM we’re 10 games over .500 with everyone in disbelief.

14-3

it continues, and my bad mood has melted away. Thanks Slegna, this is great, we should do it again all season.

Also

The Rays were up 10-0 early, but the Indians have managed to crawl within 2. The score is 10-8 Rays and the Indians have the bases loaded with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th

Holy crap -

Tampa Bay just gave up 7 runs in the bottom of the 9th to Cleveland to lose 11-10, a game they once led 10-0.

wow, that is a devastating loss

major bullpen meltdown, I guess

so you're saying it's not just our team!
Isringhausen gave up the fame winning single

I just watched the video replay.

To think that #20 for the A's could have ended the same way

but it didn’t!!

Anderson looks legit and I'm excited to watch him progress

The guy really seems to have the makeup to be a great starting pitcher. He is so calm on the mound and it appears nothing flusters him much.

Rotoworld (or whatever is on the left of the page) basically considers him as a bad start vs. Texas for fantasy owners. I, on the other hand, think he’s capable of beating anyone if he pitches to his potential.

He was shutting Texas down in Arlington when the blister hit

The building blocks for a successful A’s team ARE there. Anderson, Braden, and eventually Cahill. Bailey, Suzuki, and sooner rather than later Doolittle, Cardenas, then Carter and maybe Corey Brown.

But my lord, solve the left side of the infield.

I'm glad you gave a compliment to the starting pitching

because it’s not broken at all. We’ve all been frustrated with the left side of the infield and the overall managing of the team. Our pitching is young and should give us a chance to compete if we can sign them up to early long-term deals, which means taking a chance on unproven commoditities.

If you were to talk about every position on the team it might depress me when looking towards the future. Giambi, Kennedy, Nomar, Holliday and others don’t give me a warm fuzzy because they aren’t long-term propositions. I just hate thinking about it and choose to celebrate a couple of victories instead.

The SP is only broken in that the three "major league ready" pieces,

Eveland, Gallagher, Gio, all flamed out to where the “almost major league ready” pieces had to be front and center when they should never had to be.

Now if either Gallagher or Gio would step up and fulfill their potential as a middle of the rotation starter, the rotation would be in great shape going forward.

Going into 2010

I would be happy with a healthy Duke, Braden, Anderson, OUTman and Cahill, Gio or Gallagher. Whomever doesn’t make the rotation could be a long man and I feel good about Ziegler, Devine, Bailey and others in the bullpen.

Pitching shouldn’t be our problem going forward even if it’s not great at the moment.

I'd say there's a very, very small chance Duchscherer is with the team in 2010.
With his injury history I wonder how "hot" of a commodity

he will actually be? Not to say that Oakland shouldn’t have the same concerns.

That's kinda the point.

He’s gonna want to be a starter and not a bullpen arm. He’s already been vocal about that, but he’s not proven that he can remain healthy in that role.

I could absolutely see trying to bring him back to take the bullpen spot currently being used by a mixture of guys like Cameron, Breslow, Gio/Gallagher, Blevins, Gray, etc. I just don’t think he’d be up for it, because (like I think I’ve read on AN before) at age 30 he is basically up for the only “big” free agent contract he’ll ever get.

Exactly

This is why he needs to get healthy ASAP so we can trade him.

I wouldn't say Gio has flamed out

he was injured during spring training; then, his two cups of coffee in the majors this season have been sacrifice appearances.

I wish he were up with Oakland right now.
Well, I mean that first he was injured

and then he has continued to struggle to throw strikes even in AAA.

The idea, going into the season, was that Duchscherer would anchor the rotation, Braden would be one more established pitcher, and that Eveland/Gallagher/Gio were the guys whose age and experience made them major league ready “veterans” among the kids.

Now I always felt, in my heart, that Eveland wasn’t up to the task, but Gallagher and Gio were supposed to be the guys in the #3/#4 spots. And boy did that all not work out!

I thought that perhaps Gio would need more time in AAA

but that the other two were supposed to be ready to contribute to the starting rotation.

read an earlier post

If management would stop screwing around with Gallagher or Gio maybe they would’ve a shot. This organization is so friggin bad its pathetic……

After the Twister hit, all was quiet and Nico

woke up at home in Berkeley surrounded by Wash, Art Howe and Ken Macha looking down on him.

not a creature was stirring

not even a pooch…ini

I like winning

More, please.

so who's going to the game tomorrow night?
Maybe.

I’m 3-3 in games I’ve attended this year, so as long as I’ve got a better record than the A’s I think I’m good.

67M, on the other hand…

I'm 6-7, so I wanted to see what the balance of fans was

before deciding

Mine's terrible, but I've been drinking since 9:30 this morning.
Late start?
Let's just say that Aladdin Bail Bonds isn't as efficient as they promise in their commercials
Oh and I think I'm married now to some guy named Slim

I said I’d write but I don’t actually plan to.

Better Slim than Stumpy
I'm sorry that you know that
Aw

I totally envy you guys and your proximity to Oakland. It sucks being on the East Coast when you’re a die-hard A’s fan. :(

Move! So it's settled then.

I’ll expect you for tea tomorrow at 5pm.

By tea

he means tequila.

Oh

Man, I dunno. I’ve seen the A’s like nine times in person and their record isn’t pretty on games I attend (damn you Cleveland, Chicago, Washington [interleague ‘05]) is like 2 – 7. I did finally get the chance to see ’em in Oakland a few years back though. Talk about a dream come true! If only they’d won… :(

I think I bought one of your tickets a couple of years ago

and they won that game.

The tickets did???
Oh yeah, I remember that!

I had 8th row baseball teams for that game.

I hope you saved them.

That is, the tic— the tea— oh, I don’t know.

Great win today!

Anderson looked great, Kennedy is amazing and Travis Freaking Buck looked like Travis Freaking Buck! Let’s hope for two more against the lowly Mariners! Go A’s!

Baseball Tonight

did a highlight reel of Sweeney’s catches.

For tomorrow night's game--

thanks to LongTimeFan, I have a voucher for $2 tickets in Plaza Level or Plaza Outfield for tomorrow night and it’s good for up to 8 tickets…anyone interested? I think 5 or 6 spots are remaining – email me at pam5981 at gmail dot com if you would like to meet up!

I'm very interested, but I don'
t think I can get away from work in time to make it.
Well if you do, your $2 ticket is on me.
(I'm feeling generous, though not generous enough for plane fare.)
Hey, I'll even offer to split the cost of the game ticket.....
If you leave now you can still make it,

with time to spare. I’ll pick you up…

bleh,

who will take care of the monkeys?

I just had to yell at a monkey. I hate being the boss.

Well, a girl can dream.
you're all heart.

you know, how come no one ever points out that I still live on California time?

I don't think you ever sleep

You’re not really on any timezone….

I may be part shark...
or part ZOMBIE
grrrrr.
I still love you.

we can be undead together.

I just emailed you
From the ticket office twitter....
Use THANKS online, $10 Field Level tix for tonight’s game….
Dude.

Maybe we should do that instead ;)

DUDE.

I can’t go.

That's sad for you.
Text me and let me know where you are.

I’ll come visit.

:cry:

I’LL BE IN SECTION 218.

YESTERDAY.

I am debating.

So far I have your vote and ohtobe21’s.

You have mine too if you actually dress in drag.

Though if we lose, I’ll take it back and fully blame your attendance.

If we lose

I’m never going back. In any type of clothing.

Well, not really but…

...you got my vote too.
we haven't won 3 games in a row yet this season...i say we're due and you're due...go to the game in peace and bring home a victory
Are kilts acceptable?
They are to me...rawr!
I should post the pic...
Yes! Do it!
Don't encourage him...
Sorry, Mistress Pam...

:-P

Hey Lynn

Did you get anything from the Raiders regarding a breakfast on Thursday? Sounds pretty awesome, and it’s free.

No! When did you get it?
This morning.

I called to pay a third of my season tix and the guy mentioned it so I asked him to e-mail it to me.

Ooooh!

Could you please forward it to me?

lynnz@johnlewisglass.com

I'm on the right.

Oh...you should that before.

THOSE aren’t even real kilts.

Real enough to ride around the streets of SF on.

Proper kilt wearing style, no less.

As part of a drag outfit? No way.
Haha!

You’re strict!

Kilts are made for men.

Therefore, do not count as drag.

As long as they're worn properly.

Of course, if they’re worn with undies, that just makes said man nothing more than a dress wearing poofter.

I was at a wedding recently and the groom and groomsmen were all in kilts.

Someone asked if they wore anything under them and they said “Yes, shoes.”

and confidence.
And yes, I am.

You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Athletics Nation to post a comment.