The A's put on their usual ninth inning teAse against C.J. Wilson and the Texas Rangers, but they came up just short, as Mark Ellis flew out to end the game, leaving the tying runs on first and second.
Tommy Hunter, clearly upset at being left off today's game thread introduction, pitched a great game against the A's this afternoon, all but stifling the A's newly-resurgent offense.He out-pitched the A's Trevor Cahill to get the win, and Wilson barely hung on to get the save.
Trevor Cahill was marginally better today; giving up his customary homeruns to left-handers, but did strike out six. He looked pretty good for the first four innings, but just couldn't hold the Rangers to the two early solo homeruns. He ended up with 5 ER's on his line in six innings; he started the seventh, but didn't record an out.
The A's offense got on the board early against Hunter as they staged a two-out rally; a walk to Cust and a double by Nomar brought the first run in, and the second run scored when Saltalamacchia misfired the ball back to the pitcher. He was taken out the very next half-inning for injury reasons.
The 2-0 lead would be cut in half in the second, as Blalock homered against Cahill, and the Rangers would tie the game in the third on a homerun by Young.
Meanwhile, Hunter was busy mowing down the A's lineup. The Rangers would take the lead on a fifth inning single and a sixth inning sac fly, and although the A's got one run back in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI-double by Rajai Davis (who else?), they just couldn't break through against Hunter.
The Rangers added two more runs when Springer came into the game in the seventh, and they took a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning. After Cust and Nomar took called third strikes (these outs would end up being important), Everidge singled to keep the game alive. Hairston, batting for Sweeney, doubled down the line to score the A's fourth and final run, and Suzuki pinch hit for Landon Powell. He walked.
Mark Ellis came up to bat and took the first pitch for a ball, but he swung at the second and flied out to left. Not the ending that A's fans had scripted.
But all in all, taking 3 out of 4 from the Rangers is a wildly successful series, and we have seen a lot of great signs from this young team recently. Expect more roster changes, as Jeff Gray came up today (and pitched!), and Giambi is still somewhere in the wings, waiting to get back on the field.
The A's fly to Kansas City now; they will take on the Royals at 5:10 tomorrow night.
0 recs | 97 comments
Rajah is no Rickey
But it’s nice to have something exciting like him on the team. Very nice.
Now we have to root for Wash’ Rangers to somehow beat the Angels for the division.
LoneStranger - August 6, 2009
Some positives
Cahill limited his walks, Gray pitched lights out, Tommy Everidge continued to impress, and I had Pita Pit for lunch. All in all, not bad.
Let’s take the next series, too.
Joey C. - August 6, 2009
thumbs up!
OakA'sHoney - August 6, 2009
If Springer didn't let two runs in, it would have been a tie game (given the A's ninth.)
And Cahilll walking E.G. ? No excuse.
MobiusKlein - August 6, 2009
Is it just me...
…Or does Cahill look an awful lot like legendary Hollywood Actor Eddie Bracken (Miracle at Morgan’s Creek)?
Or you may recognize Bracken better from his late career National Lampoon’s Vacation appearance as the owner of the theme park.
strange… :)
timhudson - August 6, 2009
Roll 'em up
Joey C. - August 6, 2009
How do you even remember this guy?! :-)
Vacafan - August 6, 2009
I don't...
…“remember” him cuz I’m only 25, but I’m also a film fanatic, so…I know that kinda shizzy…
timhudson - August 6, 2009
And however old you are....
….if you haven’t seen the great Preston Sturges comedies of the 1940s, you’re missing something! Go rent THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN’S CREEK!
GreenNGoldSooner - August 6, 2009
not to mention "sullivan's travels"
which you should watch in sequence with “oh brother where art thou.”
AV - August 6, 2009
Don't overlook...
…Hail the Conquering Hero, which might be my favorite…
timhudson - August 6, 2009
The Lady Eve is wonderful, too.
And Palm Beach Story ain’t half bad.
An incredible run of films, really!
GreenNGoldSooner - August 6, 2009
And Trevor Cahill gives such wonderful performances...
timhudson - August 6, 2009
Sometimes you have to tip your cap to ...
Tommy friggin’ Hunter. Wow.
I think we’ve set the record this year for being dominated by “guys you’ve never heard of and never will again.”
Vacafan - August 6, 2009
Hunter's season ERA is 2.63 and he was a sandwich pick,
so he may not qualify amongst the garbage to have dominated the A’s at times this year. Combined with Feliz (if he returns to the rotation) and Holland, with Hunter the Rangers could finally have themselves the nucleus of a good rotation.
Nico - August 6, 2009
Well until Nolan Ryan's "I don't believe in pitch counts" mantra
has them blowing out arms in Texas.
OldhamA - August 6, 2009
or not
richwol1 - August 6, 2009
A record we set last year.
deathby9 - August 7, 2009
I can't remember which team this is, but it isn't the A's
Pitchers facing said team for the first time have like a 1.5 ERA or something against them.
Meh can’t remember which team but I know it wasn’t the A’s.
Blicks - August 7, 2009
You know...
With full seasons from Outman, Brown, Devine & Duchscherer, and the breakouts from AK+Rajai, we would have had a really good team. We’re close! 2010 cant wait…
PL78 - August 6, 2009
If I had a dollar for every time in the last three years that someone said...
….“if this team just had fewer injuries, we’d be in contention!” I could probably retire today!
GreenNGoldSooner - August 6, 2009
Here's $100
micdog2001 - August 7, 2009
Cust
Why is he in the field and why is NOMAR still on the team? DFA, or bench warmer ONLY! Hairston should be in right or left. No glove for Cust. Enough already!
A'sfansince1970 - August 6, 2009
+1
Philip Christy - August 7, 2009
I think Cahill should be in line for getting an extra day of rest
or a skipped start soon. Of course it should probably wait until the A’s get a day off again (what is this game #20 or 28?). I think in September when rosters expand maybe Cahill should ride the bench while Tomko or someone else pitches a few starts, limit is IP this season. Or maybe use the 6 man rotation or something.
How does this sould to AN? You think Geren/Young/Beane would do something like that?
micdog2001 - August 6, 2009
Honestly I don't see why Tomko would be higher on the depth chart
than E-Gonzalez or Eveland. The guy is really a terrible pitcher. Just my two cents on the matter of Brett Tomko.
Nico - August 6, 2009
"or someone else"
Tomko only came to mind because he was just signed. I’m not anxious to see him in the bigs or anything. Is Eveland in AAA? Didn’t they DFA him?
micdog2001 - August 6, 2009
Sadly, no. Eveland is still at AAA
When the A’s dip into their depth chart for starters, I’d like to see Mortenson, then Eveland (just because he’s young and could potentially have trade value), then E-Gon, then my Aunt Bertha, and then Tomko.
Nico - August 6, 2009
I think a lot of A’s fans are forgetting how young Eveland is. He’s the kind of player who’s going to blossom into a middle of the rotation type by the time he’s 28, big deal he’s having a bad year, its not the end of him.
PL78 - August 6, 2009
I don't know about that
he’s been given several chances at the big league level and he’s failed to come up with an outstanding stint. He hasn’t only pitched with the A’s either, several other teams tried him and it didn’t work out.
green tusks - August 6, 2009
I'm not forgetting how young he is; I just think he doesn't have
what it takes to pitch successfully in the big leagues. When he’s 28, I think he’s more likely out of baseball than “a middle of the rotation guy,” with the likeliest outcome that he’s yet another 28 yo who keeps finding work because he’s left-handed and keeps getting dumped because his WHIP is unsightly.
Nico - August 6, 2009
lots of 28 year olds work at Sears...
it’s just that most of them aren’t
minormajorminormajorminormajorminor leaguers.Kallus - August 7, 2009
i've seen aunt bertha pitch....helluva arm.
and tomko is no aunt bertha!
Deborah51 - August 6, 2009
To be fair, Tomko has a better change than Aunt Bertha
But Bertha’s heat is not to be denied.
Joey C. - August 6, 2009
What does Aunt Bertha bring to the mound?
OldhamA - August 6, 2009
Usually her famous peach strudel
Famous, maybe. Good? No.
Nico - August 6, 2009
Yeah, I'd like to see Mortenson, although fangraphs today noted that in his past two starts, he'd walked 7 in 11 IP.
Still, if he might potentially be in the mix for a mid/back rotation spot next year, it probably makes sense to see him now.
speckops - August 6, 2009
before tomko sees any time
we should give a start or two to mortenson or simmons
green tusks - August 6, 2009
sounds good to me
back to work now dudes, peace out for now.
micdog2001 - August 6, 2009
Simmons shouldn't be touched - he's still figuring AAA out.
OldhamA - August 6, 2009
Shouldn't be touched where?
Nico - August 6, 2009
Can you show me on this dolly?
iglew - August 7, 2009
2 cents is too much to spend on Tomko.
sirbed - August 6, 2009
before I go back to work
Today’s lineup actually sported some half way decent AVGs. I guess I’m used to seeing Crosby/Giambi/Cust/Ellis close together in the box score. At least there are a few .260s and .280s in there.
micdog2001 - August 6, 2009
every start is important for cahill right now
but you’re right he needs some rest. Even if he’s struggling I’d rather pitch every start and get the grind of a full mlb season under his belt. The second thing to note after this game is that he needs to keep changing speeds and move away from that breaking pitch that he uses ( though it has great movement he doesn’t have really good command of it ). He did well today when he changed speeds.
green tusks - August 6, 2009
aww, no sweep. sht
just saw Possada do a non-slide and get called out at the plate standing up.
ak_A - August 6, 2009
He was never beating the ball to the plate, strange decision to send him.
The lack of a slide was just sad though.
OldhamA - August 6, 2009
How long...
is the clueless management of this organization going to keep playing Jack Cust?
Keystone State - August 6, 2009
Chris Carter should be here in 2011 to take his job.
Rated-R Superstar - August 6, 2009
Meh.
At least my root beer float was good.
whiteshoes40 - August 6, 2009
not to be overlooked.
Leopold Bloom - August 6, 2009
Meh. Hate root beer.
But some nice guy gave me his mug in exchange for half a roast beef sammy. And now I’m 2-1 on Thursday day games. Hmmph!
lynnzgal - August 6, 2009
Maybe it wasn't cause YOU were there.
Maybe someone else is to blame.
Oh, and you’re INSANE. Root beer floats are the stuff of the….I dunno, people whol ike to mix root beer and vanilla ice cream, I guess. They’re yummy.
Leopold Bloom - August 6, 2009
Nico's sinful secret:
Next time you have an ordinary glass of root beer, add 1/2 & 1/2. You get an ice-cream free version of a delicious root beer float.
Y
U
M.
Nico - August 6, 2009
half and half
surely not the dairy liquid – no doubt some nick name of one of your bottles under the sink.
ak_A - August 6, 2009
I've put the 1/2 & 1/2 into two smaller containers
so I can have fresh 1/4 & 1/4 & 1/4 & 1/4 in the morning.
Nico - August 6, 2009
i got the full measure in your comment. roger that.
ak_A - August 6, 2009
Do the same thing with orange soda and you got yourself a stew! Or a creamsicle- one of the two.
deathby9 - August 7, 2009
Joey C. - August 7, 2009
I assume you mean rally pics of the opposing team.
67MARQUEZ - August 7, 2009
Currently on CSNCA:
A’s @ M’s, September 2002, when the A’s clinched the West. Rrrramon vs. Piniero in the top of the 3rd right now…
whiteshoes40 - August 6, 2009
MaEl sighting. He has hair!
whiteshoes40 - August 6, 2009
John Mabry don't need no stinking batting gloves.
whiteshoes40 - August 6, 2009
Brett Boone's HR just screamed steroids.
travdog6 - August 6, 2009
To be fair, so did Miggy's in the 9th
doctorK - August 6, 2009
Now it's the top of the 9th, tied at 2
gigglingone - August 6, 2009
Koch just finished a typically stressful 9th.
Yikes. That’s one thing about 2002 that I don’t miss (another thing being high school).
whiteshoes40 - August 6, 2009
ugh.......
hard times for Cahill
Tambo45 - August 6, 2009
So the good news in Sacramento tonight is that
Dana Eveland has gone 7 innings on just 88 pitches. The not so good news is that he’s allowed 11 hits and 9 ER. Now I’m not sure exactly how this is even possible, but that’s what the box score says.
Nico - August 6, 2009
he gave up a GS in the 3rd
walked 2 and struck out 8
it looks like he did ok after the 3rd. held them scoreless the rest of the way. maybe they were just tired from scoring 9 runs the first 3 innings.
Deborah51 - August 6, 2009
ummmm, the other team is swinging early in the count?
hmmmm….
gigglingone - August 6, 2009
Nice to know that Mark Ellis got the pitch he was looking for
“It was a great pitch to hit. I’ll take that opportunity anytime,” said Ellis, whose hitting streak ended at 10 games.
Geren said Ellis “just got it off the end of the bat, about an inch, inch-and-a-half away from where we’d be jumping up and down.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/06/SP771952SK.DTL
Translation: It was an absolute meatball and I flat out fucking missed it.
Trainman - August 6, 2009
he needs to take lessons from Ethier
Don’t know if you watched it, but that was INsane
cuppingmaster - August 6, 2009
Tell me again...
why we traded Andre Ethier?
Keystone State - August 7, 2009
In order to make the playoffs and win the first round of the playoffs
Nick - August 7, 2009
In "2000 and upside down 9"
Nico - August 7, 2009
Wow...
seems like an awesome move then by BillyB, having a single guy being able to get you to the playoffs like that. This guy, even though he had mediocre stats and missed a lot of games that year, must be an outstanding leader and positive influence in the clubhouse. Maybe he took lots of board games with him on road trips to help his teammates stay focused. And to think he has a bad reputation….who knew???
Keystone State - August 7, 2009
Winning today vs. winning tomorrow
Here’s you on the day of the O-Cab trade, Keystone State, when you were pissed that Beane had traded “one guy”:
This was right after “+100”-ing richwol1’s comment furiously attacking the trade. richwol1 said in part
The point of the Ethier/Bradley+Perez trade was to exchange potential, future performance for current performance. As it turned out, Bradley and Ethier ended up performing similarly (though you’d need to take into account the difference between AL and NL performance), and Perez crapped out. But in the playoffs, after slumping in the 2nd half, Ethier did nothing, and Bradley played great.
So to recap: it was stupid to trade O-Cab because all that you care about is “winning now” and you shouldn’t trade good veterans for prospects; but trading Ethier was stupid because he was a good prospect and the good veteran the A’s got in return wasn’t worth it, even if Ethier ended up sucking in the postseason and Bradley was great.
Got it.
Nick - August 7, 2009
don't mind Keystone
he just likes to complain.
micdog2001 - August 7, 2009
Yes, he is admirably consistent in his positions.
No matter what happens, he’s always pissed off.
You might say his negativity is relentless.
iglew - August 7, 2009
gotta give him props for relentlessness
like a bad umpire, wrong but consistent.
micdog2001 - August 7, 2009
Milton Bradley...
did that for the A’s. I wasn’t aware he was that outstanding.
Keystone State - August 7, 2009
In other news, Ted Williams still failed roughly 6 out of 10 times in 1941
Sometimes hitters miss on pitches they were looking for.
Joey C. - August 6, 2009
I guarantee you...
that Ted Williams did not fail 6 out of 10 times on what Ellis called “a great pitch to hit”. Get some kind of clue WTF you are talking about. I suspect that Williams failed more like 8 out of 10 times during that season on good pitchers pitches and failed about 3 out of 10 times on “great pitches to hit”. It would be very comforting if people would stop defending the ineptitude of the players on the current A’s team.
Keystone State - August 7, 2009
You've done it again, Holmes
Your completely random and arbitrary breakdown of Ted Williams’s performance in 1941 is on point. Clearly, you have “some kind of clue WTF you are talking about.”
My only goal in life is to provide comfort to fans such as yourself, so naturally I want to stop defending inept players as of right now. But considering the fact that the pearls of wisdom you’ve handed out on this site include:
1) “i’d take a pile of shit over cust”;
2) “i’d DFA cust”; and
3) “I love the dog shit comment! right on target! And it’s a big pile too, probably like from a great dane or st. bernard type of dog.”
… I’m gonna go ahead and question your ability to evaluate baseball players in the first place. But please. If you ever do meet Doc Brown, help him get that plutonium, get in that tricked out DeLorean, punch in the date 1987, and revel in the fact that the only stats that matter are average, runs scored, and runs batted in. I think you’ll be much happier there.
Joey C. - August 7, 2009
Given the fact that I coach a very successful...
baseball program, I’m thinking that my ability to evaluate players greatly exceeds yours. Just a guess though, since I constantly evaluate talent and it is highly unlikely that you do the same as part of your employment. Anyone who remotely thinks that Jack Cust could be a valuable player on a good team is absolutely clueless. The fact of the matter is that he is a CHEAP semivaluable player on a sub-par team.
Keystone State - August 11, 2009
For the record...
…Ted’s OBP that year was .553.
ducks, runs
Flashfire - August 7, 2009
That should have been *ducks, runs*
Forgot this place bolds text with asterisks bookending it.
Flashfire - August 7, 2009
iglew - August 7, 2009
Didn't think I'd need to preview that ;-)
Flashfire - August 7, 2009
Flashfiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire!!!!!!!1111
Joey C. - August 7, 2009
Yeah, because you know, that happens in baseball quite a bit
Flashfire - August 7, 2009
You know, looking back at his minor league stats, it seems that the FO was awful bullish about Cahill.
SSS caveats apply as he only had 7 G (6 GS) at AA, but to wit:
8.03 K/9 (cool); 4.62 BB/9 (yuck); 1.74 K/BB (meh)
2.19 ERA, but a .236 BABIP that probably indicated that his ERA was a mirage.
3.90 FIP, which is probably OK but doesn’t inspire confidence in a jump directly to the big leagues. (Maybe I’m wrong about the kind of league that the Texas league is, but a 3.90 FIP doesn’t seem great.)
I guess in retrospect, his struggles up here just shouldn’t be all that surprising. Some time in AAA might actually be useful.
speckops - August 6, 2009
All very true
However, one important factor you missed was his groundball rate, which was very high in the minors, and, I believe, not so high right now in the bigs (something to which his high homer rate might attest). Still, I agree, it was quite ballsy for the FO to start him in the bigs this year, and Anderson as well.
Philip Christy - August 7, 2009
Replace ballsy with "utterly brainless and incompetent".
lenscrafters - August 7, 2009
Agreed, although its not as much the risk taken
as it was not sending him down when it was obvious that he wasn’t ready.
Putting him in the Opening Day rotation is not that brainless and stupid, especially since the team was trying to contend. But he should’ve been sent down about a month ago, when his walk and K rates started trending in the wrong direction again.
It is almost a crapshoot how they will perform (between Anderson/Cahill/Porcello, the three that really got rushed, two have performed well, one has fallen on his face). But now that its obvious, its beyond stupid for the A’s to keep him up.
Blicks - August 7, 2009
although to be fair, sending him down now with sept callups looming is pointless
Blicks - August 7, 2009
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