Auctioneer: So, on the auction block today, we have 14 extra runs from the series. Who will start the bidding?
Dallas Braden: You've GOT to be kidding me.
After the A's put together 22 hits and 14 runs in their win on Monday night, and 18 hits and 16 runs on the board today, Dallas Braden probably feels a bit slighted. All it would have taken for the series sweep, and a win for a pitcher who fought hard for it, was a single run in last night's game. Instead, the A's have to settle for two out of three against the Twins, building an insurmountable lead in today's game to win the series.
Cahill got off to a rocky start; walking the leadoff man (who was later thrown out at second), and giving up a monster homerun to Justin Morneau. The A's were down 1-0 early, but Cahill would make sure the Twins wouldn't score again. He finished with the sparkling line of 7IP, 6H, 1R, 2BB, 4K; something very different from his last four starts. He also got the win as the starting pitcher; a rarity for the A's.
The A's offense immediately took Cahill off the hook for the first inning deficit. In the bottom of the first, Cabrera, Hairston, and Holliday hit back-to-back singles to drive in the tying run, and the team never looked back.
They did not let the Twins back in the game; and just for good measure, the A's put 4 more runs on the board. After Powell left with a sore leg, Kurt Suzuki drove in two more with a single. Rajai Davis picked up his fourth RBI with another single to bring the score to 15, and a tough error (probably should have been a hit) from Suzuki in the seventh plated the last run of the day.
Every A's player in the game, with the exception of Barton, recorded at least one hit; Hairston and Holliday had three.
So the A's win the series, and hopefully gain some offensive momentum going into what will be a tough roadtrip; four at Yankee Stadium and three at Fenway. We can hope for the best.
Remember the A's makeup game is tomorrow night; 4:05.
0 recs | 139 comments
Why did *I* get the no-offense game?
Flashfire - July 22, 2009
At least you got the fast game.
Monday was murder. But ultimately kinda fun.
67MARQUEZ - July 22, 2009
Yeah
Even with extras it clocked in under 3 hours.
Flashfire - July 22, 2009
My first and so far only A's game happend to be the same one
Sucks for us.
rightbackin - July 23, 2009
I noticed during his post-game interview...
… that Scott Hairston looks like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. I mean, I’ve seen huge domes, but his is ridiculous.
Joey C. - July 22, 2009
No, the manager of the Angels
was, is and shall always be the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
Leopold Bloom - July 22, 2009
seriously...
he looks like a cartoon out there. i’ll leave it at that…
jlanning17 - July 23, 2009
Does anyone know if ther eis somewhere you can go to listen to old radio highlights?
I would like to hear the radio call from Monday’s game but I cant quite figure out if it is available somewhere?
wacchampions - July 22, 2009
MLB.com
I know that MLB Gameday Audio has archived radio broadcasts, but I don’t think they are accessible for free, I think they are only accessible to subscribers.
el generico - July 22, 2009
They are accessible to subscribers only,
but the audio-only subscription is pretty cheap (just $15 for the whole year).
Also, I’ve found it not very user-friendly in terms of navigating around in the broadcast to find the spot you want. You can’t save it to disk, so you’re stuck trying to play it from the browser, with its limited controls and lag time. I like the archive if I’ve missed a game live but have time to listen to the whole thing later in the day, in which case I just start it up and let it run as if it were live. But if I’m trying to find an excerpt, I find it’s rarely worth the hassle.
iglew - July 22, 2009
What a series
It seems like over the years the A’s have had some great and crazy games against the Twins. I know the offense can’t stay at this level but you couldn’t have picked a better time for this team to go into that bandbox they spent a billion dollars on in New York.
If O.C. and Holliday can have a big few days in the Bronx then maybe that will drive up the price you can get for them. No matter what happens I’m going to remember Monday’s game for a long time.
sirbed - July 22, 2009
I want a sweep of those Yankee bitches!
Or at least 3 out of 4 and 2 out of 3 against the Sux. Time to play spoiler and just have fun with all of this……what a crazy series this turned out to be.
Rajai Davis is doing his best to knock Sweeney out of the lineup, eh?
Go A’s!
mrod - July 22, 2009
Frigging work!
I didn’t get to enjoy that win today properly.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
DVR! :)
mrod - July 22, 2009
Me no got.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
Next to air conditioning
DVR’s are mankind’s greatest invention
sirbed - July 22, 2009
I can see having it for your favorite shows,
but to me, there’s something not quite right about watching a game after its already happened.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
It's fine so long as
you’ve managed to avoid hearing anything about the game before you watch.
iglew - July 22, 2009
I've actually found it isn't --
If I know the game has already happened, it’s just not the same for me. I need to know that whatever is going to happen, it has happened yet and anything is possible. I’ve given up on avoiding hearing about games and just resigned myself to missing a few along the way.
Nico - July 22, 2009
DVR's are great but
for sports they only work if you can have a personal media blackout. I haven’t watched a commercial in years though which is why I love mine.
sirbed - July 22, 2009
The two biggest reasons for having a DVR
1) Ice Road Truckers
2) Deadliest Catch
adragon - July 23, 2009
+1
I love Deadliest Catch but Im not much of a fan of Ice Road Truckers
robbo650 - July 23, 2009
That's what I was trying to say.
And I don’t care that much about the rest of tv to pay for dvr.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
then you're smart to save your money
sirbed - July 22, 2009
Hmm. That doesn't bother me at all.
Maybe you and I have a different conception of metaphysical reality. For me, if I don’t know it yet, that’s not really any different experientially from if it hasn’t happened. In my little universe, the game’s wave function hasn’t collapsed yet. Maybe that’s why the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics always seemed pretty normal to me while other people think it’s paradoxical.
If you were watching on, say, a one-minute broadcast lag, would it bother you that each pitch had already happened and you were seeing it after the fact? I’m just asking because I’m trying to figure out where you draw the line. Seems to me if you’re fine with one minute, how is six hours any different … and if you’re not fine with one minute then how come the real-life lag of microseconds doesn’t bother you?
iglew - July 22, 2009
I remember a few times, back in the days
when we still recorded games with regular old VCRs, when I’d actually be more than one game behind.
Like maybe I’d be out Saturday night, so I’d record the game on tape. When I get home late that night maybe I watch about an hour but I’m sleepy so I turn it off. Then in the morning maybe I watch a bit more, but then the Sunday afternoon game is about to start, so I have to stop the tape in order to record the Sunday game instead, and since I don’t know how long it will go I let it run well into the evening. Then Sunday night I can finish watching the Saturday game, but I don’t have time to watch the Sunday game until Monday. And if there’s a Monday night game….
It can get a little confusing juggling tapes, but before long you’re caught up again. For me, it was fine, so long as no one happened to mention the result of the game in real life.
The real key is how much spare time you have over all. One year — I think it was 2001, or maybe 2002 — I know I watched (or listened on radio if no TV broadcast) 161 out of 162 games. (I missed the very last game of the regular season, but we had already clinched the playoff spot.)
For the past several years I simply don’t have 161 × 3 hours to spare. Not even close.
iglew - July 22, 2009
yo yo yo, same here... missed it again
ak_A - July 22, 2009
Now let's sweep those Yankee bitches right out of town
Hank Steinbrenner throws a hissy fit when our home grown arms (something Hankie doesn’t understand) pwn their store bought rotation.
WAAAAH ITS NOT FAAAAIIRRR MY NEW TOYZ CANT BEAT THE A’S
Blicks - July 22, 2009
So, did we win today?
Gawd, I hope we won. I don’t know; I just like winning. You can understand that, right?
67MARQUEZ - July 22, 2009
The word "massacre" doesn't ring any bells?
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
Minaya says the Mets will be buyers, not sellers
In other words, Billy, get on the phone with Omar, nao! But then, this could always be posturization, but why?
http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/mets/archives/2009/07/minaya_mets_are.html
Blicks - July 22, 2009
The only thing the Mets are going to buy is the farm
sirbed - July 22, 2009
I would like to see a deal with the Mets, just because
I see them acting out of some desperation.
Nico - July 22, 2009
They've really had too many injuries to win this year
It’s usually a excuse but for the Mets the injuries have killed them.
sirbed - July 22, 2009
It's true -- they've actually had it worse than the A's
Reyes, Delgado, Beltran — as if the A’s had guys who would be that good even if they were healthy.
Nico - July 22, 2009
Top 100 baseball players
There’s a good story on SI.com ranking the top 100 players in baseball. It’s written by Joe Posnanski whose a really good writer. Not a big shock but no A’s make the list.
sirbed - July 22, 2009
Of all time or this year?
robbo650 - July 22, 2009
If it were of all time,
then the A’s would surely be robbed to not get several guys on the list.
The actual list is for right now. Not to build a future team around, not in honor of a great career, but who can win for you right now.
You could make a case for a couple of A’s sneaking in near the bottom of the 100, but on the whole I don’t think he’s wrong to exclude us.
(There was a link in the other thread where this was mentioned. Where was it? The DLD maybe?)
iglew - July 22, 2009
So Rajai is #101, eh?
Close.
Nico - July 22, 2009
add a 0
sirbed - July 22, 2009
Kurt is at least a top 5 catcher right now
with his +defense and + bat
robbo650 - July 22, 2009
In a year or two Suzuki will be on the list
sirbed - July 22, 2009
Yes, of course
In a year or two, Ichiro Suzuki will still be on the list. Kurt Suzuki’s existence will still be unknown to everyone else.
muffinpryde - July 22, 2009
Well I guess I should have said two Suzuki's will be on the list
sirbed - July 22, 2009
Well, that's not inconsistent with Joe's list.
I only see four catchers on his list. He’s got Joe Mauer #2, Victor Martinez #51 (listed as “C/1B”), Brian McCann #81, and Jorge Posada #96.
Either he has little respect for catchers, or he just doesn’t think the current crop is very good. For all I know Kurt Suzuki would make #101.
(What other NL catchers were in the All-Star game, anyway? I don’t follow the NL at all.)
iglew - July 22, 2009
Yadier Molina
adragon - July 23, 2009
Here's the link
Posnanski’s top 100
I see there are no Orioles listed either.
iglew - July 22, 2009
Id say Markakis is top 100
robbo650 - July 23, 2009
The list is for right now
Sorry about the link but I tried once before and it didn’t work, I’m kind of slow.
sirbed - July 22, 2009
This list is a joke!
I’m sorry, but he bounces all over the place. Josh Hamilton had a difficult first half with injuries but will bounce back. John Lackey the same thing. Be consistent! Matt Holliday should be there, as should Captain Kurt. I hate lists like these!
A'sfansince1970 - July 23, 2009
Well duh
ElQuesoCapitan - July 22, 2009
Wow - I hadn't counted until just now,
but if I counted right we had 2,625 game thread comments on Monday night (for a game that was a “blowout loss in the making” for at least half the game). That is awesome!
Nico - July 22, 2009
We're dedicated, we are!
Among other things.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
What a number
I’ve read AN for years but this year I finally got on the boards and it’s made a mostly lousy season more fun that it would have been otherwise.
sirbed - July 22, 2009
I think it was even crazier at the start.
I remember telling LB that I might have to bow out, because the new kids left me in the dust.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
There's a lot of funny,creative people on the boards
and I’m glad you stayed on lynnzgal you post some good stuff.
sirbed - July 22, 2009
Yay!
And here I thought I was just fluff.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
You're "good fluff"
You know, like “good cholesterol” and “bad cholesterol.”
Nico - July 22, 2009
So, I'm fish oil?
Haha! Seriously, that was sweet.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
I have to take fish oil. :(
LoneStranger - July 22, 2009
here at AN we are all encompassing & welcoming & celebrate
diversity. (did I attend a work-team meeting today? or what?)
ak_A - July 22, 2009
we are?
huh.
pam5981 - July 22, 2009
Hey, get out of this conversation; you're not wanted.
So like you were saying ak_A, we are all encompassing and welcoming…Go on.
Nico - July 22, 2009
That's more like it.
pam5981 - July 22, 2009
I wuv u
You know that. Now go make a giant pickle.
Nico - July 22, 2009
I actually do enjoy the diversity.
Modern society tends to be age-segregated, particularly with the decline of the extended family. I love that we have a community where people ranging from 14 to 50 are all in one group, talking to each other like peers (more or less).
I also like AN’s racial diversity. And the fact that we almost never actually discuss race, so it only comes up occasionally in passing, is a big part of what I like about it.
iglew - July 23, 2009
I feel like I should give you a hug.
(That used to be one of my standard lines, so don’t get creeped out, iglew).
67MARQUEZ - July 23, 2009
You don't count
67 is over 50. I think iglw ignors your contribution.
Future Ed - July 23, 2009
Be creeped out, iglew, be very creeped out.
The fact that he had to justify it by saying it was a standard line should have you worried.
ZigFan31 - July 23, 2009
RAWR
mikev - July 23, 2009
There's 14 year olds here?
I should leave.
mikev - July 23, 2009
they say they're teens
but they say it with the diction of someone older than that… and they spell “nonetheless” correctly. so i guess our teens go to great schools.
AV - July 23, 2009
You add more then just fluff
but fluff is good stuff too
sirbed - July 22, 2009
How galant. TY.
Its good to know, and its no secret how I feel about you all.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
you have way to much free time
and that is a sick number of comments. Just imagine if Pamcakes and some others had stayed the whole game, (yes I mean me).
adragon - July 22, 2009
Sigh.
Not you, too.
pam5981 - July 23, 2009
Jack Cust - turning a corner?
I haven’t been active in game threads so perhaps this has already been covered, but – Jack Cust is having a great month of July with the following line: .327/.431/.551/.982. In his last ten games, it looks like this: .290/.525/.613/1.138 with 9 walks and 3 dingers. This hot streak has pushed his season OPS back up to .766, nothing special but giving him an OPS+ of over 100.
He’s walking more, striking out plenty, and flat out getting on base. The sample size is small, but it gives me tremendous hope for my favorite baseball player and a guy I root for with every fiber of my being.
ORthey - July 22, 2009
I think Cust is more streaky than average,
so whenever you look at his overall stats in the middle of a downturn they will look especially bad. But he’s still the team’s HR leader by 5 HRs and really the only true “HR threat” (on pace for more than 20) in the lineup. If he can get back to walking a lot — which is a skill that doesn’t tend to disappear — he’s still a very useful player. As a DH. Right, Bob? DH.
Nico - July 22, 2009
I think his walking is coming back.
His swing % is slowly dropping, and his other stats are improving. Obviously SSS warning in effect here, but I also think that his approach (and swing %) is more immune to SSS issues than other stats.
travdog6 - July 23, 2009
Thats what I am hoping
Future Ed - July 23, 2009
Can somebody do a fan post explaining some obscure stats?
OPS+ WARR RAZR cuz as a casual fan i have no idea what those are(i just figured out a couple months ago what OPS is)
robbo650 - July 22, 2009
Where's designatedforassignment he's great at explaining that stuff
sirbed - July 22, 2009
So WAR RAZR is designed to tell you:
if you go to war with your razor how does your beard compare with “league average stubble”?
Yeah we may want DFA to take over here.
Nico - July 22, 2009
good stuff
sirbed - July 22, 2009
If we trade with the Mets, we could get some undervalued prospects.
They could bring some more pop to the lineup in a couple years. Replace guys like Crosby.
Oaktown123 - July 22, 2009
I could go to a little league field and find a someone to replace Crosby
sirbed - July 22, 2009
{picks up third base}
Got something!
Nico - July 22, 2009
Today Nico is the greatest of all time.
67MARQUEZ - July 22, 2009
My dog leaves better players than Crosby in tightly coiled piles on my lawn.
Wait, you said this was a family website?
ORthey - July 22, 2009
Um, those aren't dog turds,
they’re Jack Hannahan.
Nico - July 22, 2009
OK, first the bad news from Sacramento:
Rivercats down 11-1, Blevins gave up 7 hits and 4 ER in 1.2 IP (after Jerome Williams was lit up like a non-religious-specific pre-New-Year’s Winter tree).
The good news: It’s the other team’s starting pitcher who is named “Fister” — not a name I’d want to carry with me all my life.
And Everidge is 3 for 3.
Nico - July 22, 2009
"Fister"
Let’s discuss.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
"I barely knew 'er!"
Nico - July 22, 2009
The Adam's Family
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
where does IT fit in?
ak_A - July 22, 2009
Can I have his hair?
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
sorry, i didn't know....
ak_A - July 22, 2009
I love IT.
Not the movie with the clown though. Kind of creepy.
67MARQUEZ - July 22, 2009
Fister in the U.S. Army is a good thing
lmfao it’s one of the most respected and dangerous jobs in the Army lol
13 Foxtrot… Field Artillery Forward Observer…
They’re nickname is Fister… haha so i guess Fister can be good sometimes right?!?
Let's Go Oakland! - July 23, 2009
I am a sad (but drunk) panda.
ZigFan31 - July 22, 2009
What do you hit? Can you play 3rd?
we might be able to use you, (and not the mikev way)
adragon - July 22, 2009
Not sure of my average but I have a really high OBP.
I can’t play third, but I can play second or the outfield. I can pitch too. Better than all my boys.
ZigFan31 - July 22, 2009
You’re hired
Pick up your uniform by the door on your way out. How do you feel about the number 21, (Hairston is not using it anymore)?
adragon - July 23, 2009
You should play to hit, not walk in slowpitch! boo!
pam5981 - July 23, 2009
My god
i have had to sub in as pitcher on a slow pitch teams and I want to KILL the mf’ers that dont swing after 3 reasonable pitches.
Future Ed - July 23, 2009
Seriously. It's slowpitch.
pam5981 - July 23, 2009
Who said anything about walking?
I get on by errors!
ZigFan31 - July 23, 2009
Dood.
Errors don’t count in OBP.
;)
pam5981 - July 23, 2009
How about a fielder's choice?
ZigFan31 - July 23, 2009
Is that what it's called when you saunter down the line and make the fielder just stop and stare
cuz you’re wiggling your tail as you run?
mikev - July 23, 2009
rawr
ZigFan31 - July 23, 2009
When I was in high school, there was a teacher
named Mr Pfisterer. Not just Pfister, but Pfisterer. Sort of like Duchscherer.
iglew - July 23, 2009
Wondering about Landon...
if he can’t be ready to fill in for Zooks if something happens, will they bring someone else up? Could this be part of a master plan to get Croz behind the plate?
Kallus - July 22, 2009
How far away would he squat?
There isn’t a catcher on the 40-man roster, so if Powell has to be DLed — and if he’s going to be out more than a day or two he really has to be — the A’s need to make a move with the 40 man roster in order to call up, say, E. Munson.
Nico - July 22, 2009
I'm liking Powell's bat right now, but isn't a backup catcher's main job
being available to, uh, backup the starting catcher. If his hammies are that bad, maybe they should DL him. Oh, and I just remembered that we don’t have Bowen any more. Where the hell is Melhuse? Are we, or are we not, getting the band back together?
Kallus - July 22, 2009
I want Brown.
muffinpryde - July 22, 2009
Munson died years ago in a plane crash.
ak_A - July 22, 2009
wrong munson.
ak_A - July 22, 2009
kind of tough playing catcher with a rubber hand...
jlanning17 - July 23, 2009
insert pic of Borat
ya know the one in the hotel with the fat guy
robbo650 - July 23, 2009
best scene of the movie...
jlanning17 - July 23, 2009
Get you gear Dale!
Future Ed - July 22, 2009
Manny hits his first PH GS
to untie the Dodger game.
that is like 21 Grand Slams I think.
Trainman - July 22, 2009
Sigh.
Just Man…oh to hell with that.
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
lol
you beat me to it
adragon - July 22, 2009
It's actually four in Fenway, too.
And I am guessing Brett Anderson would have liked to borrow two runs for his last outing. ;-)
67MARQUEZ - July 22, 2009
What the F?
The four gamers are killing me!
lynnzgal - July 22, 2009
I didn't do it!
Ok, maybe I did.
67MARQUEZ - July 22, 2009
ROTOWORLD dissed Raji Davis
This is from the ROTOWORLD A’s News on the AN home page. When I read this I almost fell off the couch I was laughing so hard.
adragon - July 22, 2009
Rotoworld reads AN!!!!
Kallus - July 22, 2009
That cracked me up.
Obviously, someone from Rotoworld reads AN on a regular basis.
Speaking of baseball, I just returned from watching my cross dressing brother in laws team play softball. It’s a co-ed league, the team is not all that good and they cheat like crazy, but it’s absolutely hilarious. The league is co-ed, and the other teams in the league consist mainly of people who work together. However, it’s hard to tell some of the transvestites apart from a distance on my brother in laws team, so they take judicious liberties with the batting order. Apparently the batting order is supposed to alternate between genders. I think the other teams are to stunned to protest. By the time they figure out that they’ve been had, the game is over. My brother in law’s team wins a lot more games than they should.
alox - July 22, 2009
I vaguely remember knowing (or "knowing")
that the original guy who started Rotoworld was an A’s fan.
I think they have several writers (or “writers”) there now, so who knows who writes what. I know they have Aaron Gleeman now, and I think he’s a Twins fan.
iglew - July 23, 2009
wow. I need to hear more about this team/league
Someone (you) needs to do 1500 words on this.
jakarta - July 23, 2009
Twins got Buttslammed
I wish the A’s would keep up this kind of offense every game.
Hit4TheCycle - July 22, 2009
great to see
our offense terrorize the twins… but it’d be nice if we could have a consistent offense and not just moster spurts of runs.
Let's Go Oakland! - July 23, 2009
Anyone think Rajai deserves an extended look?
I don’t think he’ll be deserving of any playing time when all is said and done, but for now I think he deserves to get consisten AB’s.
travdog6 - July 23, 2009
He should be in a platoon in RF
Swoony against rightys
Raji against leftys
adragon - July 23, 2009
that is what is happeneing
robbo650 - July 23, 2009
Right field?
Does he have the arm? this makes little sense. But then having Sweeney AND davis on your 25 man and NOT Buck makes little sense to me.
Future Ed - July 23, 2009
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