Good runs! Good runs!
Felix Hernandez was, by all auditory and transcribed accounts, even more dominant this afternoon than Bedard was yesterday.
But the A's waited ... and waited ... and waited -- and finally Hernandez' pitchcount crept upward, he lost a lot of his control, he threw a couple hittable pitches, and the A's finally made him -- and the Mariners' accelerant-doused bullpen -- pay.
The 8th was the turning point, when the A's loaded the bases on a couple walks sandwiched around an Ellis double, and then Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar came through with consecutive RBI singles to tie and put the A's in the lead.
Joe Blanton did yeoman-like work today. He was thoroughly outpitched by Hernandez, but Joe managed to minimize the damage with all the Mariners' baserunners (8 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings). And Casilla and Street bothlooked sounded impressive again, slamming the door on the Mariners in the 8th and 9th with only one baserunner (a walk by Casilla, who still hasn't allowed a run this season).
So the A's take another series win, and have to feel awfully good going into the showdown in the OC tomorrow.
Felix Hernandez was, by all auditory and transcribed accounts, even more dominant this afternoon than Bedard was yesterday.
But the A's waited ... and waited ... and waited -- and finally Hernandez' pitchcount crept upward, he lost a lot of his control, he threw a couple hittable pitches, and the A's finally made him -- and the Mariners' accelerant-doused bullpen -- pay.
The 8th was the turning point, when the A's loaded the bases on a couple walks sandwiched around an Ellis double, and then Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar came through with consecutive RBI singles to tie and put the A's in the lead.
Joe Blanton did yeoman-like work today. He was thoroughly outpitched by Hernandez, but Joe managed to minimize the damage with all the Mariners' baserunners (8 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings). And Casilla and Street both
So the A's take another series win, and have to feel awfully good going into the showdown in the OC tomorrow.