Open Thread: Game 84 - A's vs. Blue Jays

Being in Canada, I don't get the feed on tv for this game. and well i'm at work so i'll be watching gameday. and hopefully we smack around those Blue Jays.

Go A's Go!

don't need it today.  53 degrees and rain.  too typical of a 4th here.  well, i should be joining the paltry thread maybe after the dreary parade and a soggy brautworst from one of the booths downtown.

George Steinbrenner, Al Davis, and me.

Well, OK, maybe two, no, one, all right nobody.

Do they have 4th of July celebrations and fireworks at BlueJay games in Toronto?

Stewart
Kotsay
Swisher
Cust
Chavez
Johnson
Ellis
Crosby
Kendall

I have a strange feeling that Crosby will have a good game today.  8th hole should motivate him.

for a 4th of July game was actually happening.

"C'mon and shake me, wake me, when it's over.."

next to Wolff from the footage from last night. He was the one in the green sweatshirt without the hat. He sat in front of me last night and couldn't sit still for two seconds. He was bouncing around and everything. I almost threw my camera at him. Why he couldn't take a cue from his younger sister who was actually sitting there quietly watching the game??

Send THEM to FSN+!

why is Kotsay batting 2nd?

It's all of 81 degrees and yes, more rain.  I think there's a 10 day record of straight measureable rain that is in jeopardy.  Probably won't go to the Rangers game.  Not worth the expense if it gets rained out.  But Jered Weaver is pitching and I'd love to see him lose.

but when it does, it looks like it might be ugly.

Great idea! Walk the bases loaded!

Kennedy will be walking in the run right here...

the defense behind him can get the out.  Cuz he's not going to be striking anyone out.

but that doesn't make it any easier being down 3-0 TODAY.

Walk or 2 run Single?

This is Idependance Day! What are these damn Canadians thinking!

And what the hell is President Kennedy doing out there?

take him out, Geren.

Komine is not a good pitcher but you certainly can't blame Geren for pulling him.  Macha wouldn't have done so this early.

Why not let Blanton come back on 3 days rest, so we get Gaudin, Haren, and Blanton in a row, and maybe get Harden back in there soon.  It would give us a fighting chance to get in rhythm of wins in a row, momentum shift, whatever.

relentless negativity and predictcions of failure? The game speaks for itself.

KenKo speculated that JoKe might have been on a short leash anyway, due to his either not feeling well or not looking good in his warmup bullpen session.

Maybe it's for the best.

inning.  Sure hope we have a shitload of offense today.

your tradability, Kennedy.

I like being able to watch the game, this is exciting and new.

Game still on for now.

Doesn't he realize that if he wants to give up runs like Haren, he has to have a large lead?

I am much more comfortable to with Komine.

way to be patient!

if he can be given credit for yesterdays?

the Ayatollah last year, maybe a repeat....

Just get out already!

On the positive side, at least I get to watch Airplane while I wait for the giants game to end....

during the Q&A when that guy called out Crosby?

Think he might have had a point.

Im shocked he hit a Ground Ball (LOL).....come on Oakland get it together....Let's Go A's!!!

2/3 IP
1 HR
1 2B

when the A's have day games!?

Bummer, I seem to have missed all the good stuff :P

Well, I'll just have to refuse to retire any Giants, preventing your fans from watching the game.

at the box score before running off to a friend's barbecue.

Why is Komine in?  Did he start?  Did Kennedy get hurt?  Did Kennedy totally suck and get pulled?

I mean, yeah, we're down by 6... but at least it's early! If we get a run or two each inning (and stop giving some up) we can definitely win this game.

Is that good for optimism? :)

for your distracting pleasure.

getting the least out of a player. Kennedy has been terrific against lefties (.129 BAA, .0.90 WHIP), but horrific against righties (.310 BAA, 1.70 WHIP). Teams just stack the lineup with righties against Kennedy when he starts, so he is always pitching at his worst.

The A's really could have used Kennedy in the bullpen and anyone else (Komine, Braden, whoever) would have been just as likely to pitch about as well as a starter. The fact that Kennedy succeeded for no apparent reason for 6 weeks doesn't change the reality that he is very ill suited to starting and very well suited to the pen.

Let's go Stewart! Get a hit!

'ata boy Stewart!!

Here comes a rally! LETS GO A's!!!

Get Hot Nick

You don't need to be a hero, just get on base. Hopefully with a hit to advance runners and possibly score a run... but yeah. Just don't make an out.

Now would be a good time to get some runs in.  Just thought I'd point that out.

No pressure, or anything.

But it's OK... we can still get a run or two here.

LETS GO CUST!!!

to go with bad skill today. Nice combo.

Not quite enough.

At least we know it is possible to get hits off of him today. There is no excuse for a shut out now. We will have to do some more of that hitting stuff next inning :)

can find someone else to try out for a game or two.

to quit taking amphetamines

7-0

it would be 5-0 A's

hfg

i see jOke did not even finish the first inning...good gawd.

to stay awake with the hopes of a comeback but it's getting tougher and tougher each inning.  

To the pitching desperate Yankees? OUCH! He sucks!

This? Why, I can make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl...

game to bring some sunshine to my cold and rainy 4th....with tiresome small town parade that featured mostly honking horns and sirens.

I left for a while and came back to yet another Toronto run.  Think I'll go out and buy illegal fireworks.

Do something awesome!

get it going please.

Blanton has the 6th best Era in the A.L., how about that for a nice surprise this season.

You'd think, since the Blue Jays are based in Canada, that they'd let us win today since it's the 4th of July. That's not very nice of them to keep shutting us out like this.

Save the bullpen for another day.

or Kendall's doing a bad job calling this game.

Must have already started drinking, I see.  

Other than Matt Stairs and  Bench Coach Ernie Whitt, most of the Blue Jays are blue blooded Americans.

Silly Toronto Blue Jays.

we can't hit McGowan, his era is 5.15 and his his only other start against the A's he gave up 7 runs.

but Swisher has been struggling ever since it happened.

Haren, Gaudin, Harden/Dinardo and Blanton! Nice! AND we won't have to se JOKE until after the All Star Break!

I'm liking that Haren/Weaver match up.

nice defense, Swish.

'Cause this game sure does suck.

I hope we're getting it out of system, whatever "it" is!

Doesn't look promising.

That would be so hilarious if we scored 11 runs right now.

will be M's-Royals game on real tv.   go royals.

WE AREN'T SHUT OUT!!!!

Now we only need 8 more!

what did Ellis do?

Sooooooo Unamerican!

Why'd we have to lose another series?!

Gotta get out of this slump.

A's designated hitter Jack Cust is hot again, jeopardizing the future of Mike Piazza, a potential Hall of Famer, in Oakland.

If Piazza's shoulder doesn't recover enough by the All-Star break for him to throw and return part-time to catcher, the A's might need to trade him to a team in need of a DH
That won't be so easy, however.

The Mariners, Twins and Angels all need better production out of their DH spot, but the A's would not want to move Piazza to a club that it's competing with for a postseason berth.

One thing is clear: Cust will play, perhaps getting more time in the outfield if Piazza remains in the picture. A left-right platoon with Piazza might be unnecessary; Cust's on-base/slugging percentage against left-handers (1.014) is higher than it is against right-handers (.999).

Cust batted .310 with eight homers in his first 13 games, then .153 with no homers in his next 21. A fluke? Not when he recovered to bat .390 with six homers in his last 15 games.

Uncomfortable as the situation might be, Cust says Piazza has been extremely supportive; they also were teammates last season with the Padres.

"You might think with the career that he has had, he might (act) a certain way," Cust says. "But he's as far from that as you can imagine."