FanPost

What is Macha thinking?

Macha's 7-9 hitters (Johnson, Scutaro, Perez) tonight are now hitting combined .376 or on average .125.  What was he thinking putting this anti-murderers row in the A's lineup tonight.  Perhaps Chavez needed a day out of the field, but why isn't Mark Ellis playing?  I know he's been struggling a bit, but he's still a much better option then Scutaro, even including defense in the decision.  Why not have Swish play first and put Payton in left, who's hitting just as well as Johnson lately, if not better.

So what happened in these instances, Johnson twice comes up with a chance to do big damage and while I was happy he made productive outs and drove in 2 runs, that left Scutaro who is now something like 3 for his last 50 to get blown away w/ men in scoring position and two outs.

The bottom line is Macha's offense may have well cost the A's a win tonight and gave a game to to Texas.  I believe the A's will, if healthy, beat all comers in the AL West this year, but its not a great thing to drop 3 of 4 to a young improving Texas team that is looking for confidence against the team they know will be in it all year long.