I mentioned before the game started that I really liked the lineup and I did, but it also made managing against the A's pretty darned easy when you line up Swisher, Johnson, Cust and Chavez in order.  You simply need to call on your best lefty reliever and there ya go.  Diffuse the rally.  This is where the absence of Piazza and Bradley is the most tangible.

Kotsay is left-handed batter so he won't help - but getting Bradley and Piazza back may help a little ..

are the goats today, defensively and offensively.

We gave away 4 runs today on poor defensive plays.

We had our chances offensively to get back in the game. Chavvy leaves 7 on base, Johnson 5. Johnson has been carrying some of the load recently, so its hard to be mad at him but Chavvy really needs to come clean here with the state of his forearms and bat lower down the order.

Because we need to hear some: Dan Meyer's line in AAA Sac today is 5.0 IP 2H 4 BB (bad but still) 1ER 3K.  The outing lowered his ERA to 2.28.  

Also in the game Kotsay led off and has gone 1-2 with 1 RBI so far.  

Pick a Dallas Braden start other than his first.  You've really forgotten his last start?
And I'm not really sure what they have in a Snelling reclamation project - I'd like to see him play a month without going on the DL before I'd even think about calling him a good acquisition.  Right now he's just another injured outfielder.
Scutaro seems to be battling Kendall to see who can hit worse.  Kendall gets the nod now because of more plate appearances, but Scutaro doesn't look like he has a clue right now.  The problem is, if Buck is out for any period of time, that Scutaro is really the only option.  As bad as he is hitting, he's still better than Bocachica.  The A's cannot afford to put any more offensively challenged players out there in the interest of defense.

is Duke's hip.  He says he felt worse today than he did yesterday.  Why isn't he on the DL?  I know the options are few, buy why not bring up Windsor or Komine and put them in the pen?  They can't do much worse than Robertson can they?

he's an important part of the A's future. he's been battling elbow and wrist problems right from the start of the season. hopefully we can bring back DOYLE! this week and Kots on June 1.

B-R-U-T-A-L. Hawk "Pinhead" Harrelson and Darin "Negative IQ" Jackson are the two worst baseball announcers ever. This is not even factoring in how big homers they both are.

It is going to be another long two days. :(

would be a great way to create space for Kotsay.  That would get the A's a healthy outfielder (at least until Kotsay flies the first time and his back stiffens up), and gets Buck some time to heal his wrists and elbow.  Until he gets some rest and completely heals them, they will probably bother him the whole season.

to Kots. Yeah we could use a 90 % healthy Kotsay in center. Swish didnt look good out there tonight. Yeah he made that catch falling over but Id rather see him in right if the outfield at all. Buck to the DL, cross fingers on Milton bring up Lewis for a start or 2 until Loaiza and his 1 leg are ready.

Kotsay got a single that turned into a triple on a two-base error, scoring two runs.  He then scored from third in a run down in which the catcher threw the relay into left field.  The crowd loved it!

He was wearing #14 with no name on his back.  I thought he was a recent call-up until he was announced!  He is batting leadoff and playing center field.

It was really fun to watch. The rallies, though unsucessful, were very exciting. Before the game, I got to see a lot of the players pretty close, and I got Kiko to sign a baseball for me. I've never tried to get anything signed before, so it was a lot of fun.

Also, the WhiteSox fans I was near were really cool. They gave me a few jibes, but in general, they were cool, and showed respect for the out-of-town fan. I was impressed with the environment- people were having a lot of fun on a monday...

So ya, I'm just happy, even though the A's lost, because there's so much fun in going to a game and seeing the team independent of the result. I don't get to see them as often in Chicago, and this made me really happy.

Looking at the game on the Tivo, it was clear that the problem today was the defense, not the pitching or the hitting. Most times the A's score 5 runs they're gonna win. The turning point of the game was the second inning, where it took Blanton 5 outs to get out and he had to deal with bases loaded and no outs and throw 30 pitches. If Swisher had made the play on Dye's alleged double, as most CFers would, and Johnson makes the play on Pierzynski, Ozuna's a easy out and no harm is done. Blanton's still minty fresh in the sixth inning and we're celebrating.

That's not to say that Chavy doesn't need to be dropped down in the order behind Crosby, but just to put things in perspective. With Kotsay out there we have a much better team.