Dominant

Rich is a stud...go A's!

mmmmmHMMM

by the end, because it was about not wasting back to back starting gems, as well as not starting out 0-2 vs. the Angels, 1-4 at home, and 4-7 overall.

Pulling it out was like, well...a nice kick-save from a hockey goalie?

Man, what a beautiful day at the park. 25K isn't such a great crowd considering the weather, the opposition, and who we had on the mound, but they'll probably do better for tomorrow's bobblehead give-away. Personally, I've never wanted one of those badly enough to wait in the long lines. Today's giveaway was a calendar, with action photos of our young and not-so-young players, and everyone's favorite manager, and insets of them with pets (it is sponsored by a pet supplies company, but the only advertising is a small logo at the bottom of each page). Unlike last year's, the dates on this one include the scheduled games, promotions, player birthdays, and "on this day" bits of A's trivia. Pretty nice. Anyway, about the game:

-I love this kind of game. There's nothing like a great pitchers' duel, especially if you squint enough to convince yourself that the guy on the other end of it is someone good. At some point we're going to need one of those things that most other teams have called an offense, but for today the fact that one mistake would have cost the game just made Harden's dominating performance that much more exciting. And he made it seem easy. Even on the two occasions when the Angels got a runner to third, I had the feeling "oh well, no big deal, he'll get the next guy." And he did. And of course Calero was great too.

-I try to stay consistent with my opinions about certain players for as long as I can, but at some point reality is just too darn real. I've been saying, and believing, for months that Bobby Kielty was a decent player who just had a bad year, but at this point I'm off that bandwagon. (Remember to turn out the lights when you leave, ohad). In his first at bat he had an opposite field shot that went just foul, but after that, nada. Caught looking twice, and then swinging for the hat trick. Ugh. I don't know what happened to the player who put up good numbers for Minnesota a couple of years ago, but I suspect if he's ever going to show up again it's going to take a change of scenery. Maybe Sacramento. Maybe Tampa. Just not the middle of the A's batting order please.

-Byrnes was one of only a couple hitters (along with Kendall) who looked good against the left-handed Washburn, and showed nice hustle turning one of his singles into a double. So I'll only rag on his defense a little bit. In the fifth (I think) Izturis went from 1st to 3rd easily on a single to shallow left. Byrnes had the play right in front of him, but between his late break on the ball and his weak arm, he wasn't even close to making a play, and Izturis never hesitated. That's some pretty serious lack of respect, and deservedly so.

-Kotsay, on the other hand, just makes everything seem so effortless out there. It's as if he moves one or two steps, and then wills the ball to come to right where he's standing.

-Chavez needs to pick it up. And, although I love the A's patient approach, I don't think you can afford to take close 3-2 pitches with Bobby Kielty hitting behind you.

-Nice to see Durazo come in and get a hit when we needed one badly. Hatteberg had a very nice at-bat to follow it up - after getting two strikes early he took two very close pitches that were called balls and fouled off a few others - even though it ultimately ended in a double play. I thought Macha might have avoided the DP by using Thomas as a pinch-runner and trying a steal or hit-and-run, but if it didn't work and the game had gone longer, ending up with your best defensive outfielder in the DH slot would not have looked very smart, so I can't object too much. And Durazo isn't as slow as some people think anyway.

-Swisher has been only mediocre at the plate, but despite that, and the fact the he's been hitting low in the order, his hits seem to be coming at the right time - he leads the team in homers, RBIs, and managed to score the winning run today. I hope he's convinced the doubters that he belongs in the majors.

-The A's beating the Angels 1-0 on a bunt is irony at it's very finest.

And Kiko Calero's presence in the bullpen is about as comforting as any middle reliever since maybe Rick Honeycutt...Yeah, he's going to have a bad outing eventually ~ Blez

And when he does, I'll be right there demanding his benching and/or trade!!!  And then I'll pine for Mulder while criticizing Beane.

[/sarcasm]

what to do - what to do?

Copped out of g/f commitment by "having to go to work" which I did but watched the mlb feed while there and enjoyed every minute of it. (are you seeing someone else? yes, 9 guys.)

but two of them were switch-hitters.

for any backdoor sliders.