Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: Jim Irsay: We Can Make It Work With Peyton Manning

3-Run Bombs Force A's To Split

In this series, each team won a game the other probably should have secured and each team flat out won a game. Today was the Angels' turn to outclass the A's plain and simple, breaking a 1-1 tie on Torii Hunter's 3-run HR off of Brett Anderson and then putting it out of reach on Kendry Morales' 3-run shot in the 8th off of Jay Marshall.

Star-divide

The A's are going to have to figure out how to get Kendry Morales out -- or least keep him from playing pepper with the wall and with the bleacher fans -- because the A's and Angels match up 19 times/year and Morales is going to be around for a while.

Figuring out how beat John Lackey may be less likely but also less urgent, as the ugly-but-effective right-hander is a free agent after 2009. The A's scored their only run on a pickoff throw that bounced away; enough said.

Hey, if the A's can play even with the Angels going forward, they're in great shape. But...still a ways to go, methinks.

Comment 22 comments  |  0 recs  | 

Do you like this story?

Comments

Display:

that's how I see Lackey too, as:
ugly-but-effective

"I'm pretty sure I heard Ray Fosse call a run a "point" tonight." - travdog6

by Kallus on Aug 30, 2009 2:58 PM PDT reply actions  

haha 'ugly-but'

"If Bowden was a general contractor, he'd build houses with nine bedrooms, six garages, no bathrooms, and half a roof."

by DyeLongJustice on Aug 30, 2009 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions  

Even in down years the A's seem to play the Angels tough

but if you keep getting swept in Seattle or beat up by the Rangers it only helps so much. This division has three good teams in it with good baseball people running things so the A’s have a lot of work ahead of them to get back on top of the A.L. West.

by sirbed on Aug 30, 2009 3:01 PM PDT reply actions  

sept callups

geren mentions mostly pitching early on…players already on 40 man such as blevins, reineke, mortnsen

sac signed chris gissell, activated chjris schroder, and called up benacka recently so they have reinforcements for their AAA playoffs

its too bas rivercats games arent televised in the bay area, that offense would be interesting to watch

by Asfan4ever723 on Aug 30, 2009 4:42 PM PDT reply actions  

What the hell happened to Kendry Morales to make him a good baseball player?

The Halos announcers sound like frat boys at a kegger… Ken Korach calls a game like a grown-ass man - Emperor Nobody

by designatedforassignment on Aug 30, 2009 8:37 PM PDT reply actions  

The A's.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Aug 30, 2009 8:41 PM PDT up reply actions  

Um the dude is a beast this year.

He doesn’t play the A’s enough to hit 30 jacks

The Halos announcers sound like frat boys at a kegger… Ken Korach calls a game like a grown-ass man - Emperor Nobody

by designatedforassignment on Aug 30, 2009 8:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

At 19 games a season.....

I think we can can get the guy close to his goals.

Never underestimate the suckitude of the A’s.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Aug 30, 2009 9:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

So AN/Chrome just ate my 3+k word post that was going up tomorrow

FML

The Halos announcers sound like frat boys at a kegger… Ken Korach calls a game like a grown-ass man - Emperor Nobody

by designatedforassignment on Aug 30, 2009 9:31 PM PDT reply actions  

You actually compose it in AN and don't save it elsewhere?

I basically never trust any web application with anything longer than a paragraph or two.

"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan

by iglew on Aug 30, 2009 10:14 PM PDT up reply actions  

AN "autosaves" everything I write every couple of minutes --

I don’t know if that’s only a front page feature, or a general feature, but if it’s the same as for me then you’ll have it saved as an “unpublished draft” somewhere.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Aug 30, 2009 10:16 PM PDT up reply actions  

yeah i know... i do too but its just gone

and it won’t let me view it again because though i know the tag were good the last time i saved it, the embedded excel is breaking the editor.

The Halos announcers sound like frat boys at a kegger… Ken Korach calls a game like a grown-ass man - Emperor Nobody

by designatedforassignment on Aug 30, 2009 10:34 PM PDT up reply actions  

Im a big believer in google docs and was saving it often

but then my the suspend feature which is a little buggy on the alpha ubuntu distro that im running activated while moving back to my room and bam it was gone.

The Halos announcers sound like frat boys at a kegger… Ken Korach calls a game like a grown-ass man - Emperor Nobody

by designatedforassignment on Aug 30, 2009 10:36 PM PDT up reply actions  

Moral of the story

Don’t use pre-release software

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 31, 2009 11:38 AM PDT up reply actions  

Rajai Davis has made it up to 3 WAR,

which is all the more impressive when one considers he has only 275 PAs on the year. He’s leading the team in this category, edging out Braden and Holliday by a run. This is despite Holliday having 125 more PAs in which to show his mettle. Rajai was acquired at the opportunity cost of a roster spot, and has been more productive than fellow scrap heap pick-ups like Cust and Gaudin were in their best years.

I doubt he’ll keep up this torrid pace, and his current numbers are so far off his previous levels of production that its hard to tell exactly where his true talent level might be, but I would think if he can put up 3.0 WAR in slightly over half a season’s playing time, he’d be good for at least 2.5 playing more regularly in 2010, even with a healthy dose of regression mixed in. Of course he’s sporting a very difficult to sustain UZR/150 of 24.6.

If a fortune teller had told me in Spring Training that Rajai Davis would be the A’s MVP I would have called them a liar, and then when they showed me their fortune telling credentials to prove they were for real, I would have thought, “Shit! This season’s gonna totally suck.” But Davis’ improvement is remarkable even if it can be explained as a career year. Barring any trades/signings I figure the 2010 starting CF job is his to lose.

Bob Garen is incontinent

by Aufheben on Aug 30, 2009 11:44 PM PDT reply actions  

Casilla and Marshall

After September 1st, when the A’s bring up a handful of pitchers to work out of the bullpen, I’d find it a complete waste of outs to see Santiago Casilla in any game. I suspect he’ll be non-tendered at the end of the season, and he’s doing absolutely nothing now, other than handing courtesy runs to the opposition.

As for Marshall, he seems to be showing that he is not a major league pitcher, and given his minor league stats, I think he may never be one. He’s the perfect AAAA reliever.

(I stole the words “courtesy runs” from my friend Dr. Pez, who explains that a courtesy run is one scored in the ninth inning by the losing team in a blowout, more or less as a courtesy by the winning team).

by richwol1 on Aug 31, 2009 1:01 AM PDT reply actions  

+1.5

As for Casilla, it would be a crime if the A’s were to actually hold on to him and have to pay him an arbitration raise. Slusser even mentioned today that Kurt Suzuki may have been beaned over the weekend as revenge for Casilla hitting Angel batters…that kind of crap is unacceptable. He should probably be DFA’d right now and his spot should be given to Brad Kilby, or another non-roster reliever that deserves a shot at the MLB level that won’t put the future health of teammates at risk. Casilla/Garcia needs to go.

As for Marshall…this team just really needs to realize that he’s never going to be a multi-inning reliever and he sure as hell should never face multiple right-handed batters in a single outing…he really shouldn’t face any right-handers ever, but that might be unavoidable sometimes…

I'm never gonna do it without the fez on!

by Taj Adib on Aug 31, 2009 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions  

A courtesy run

in this case, is the gift given by Bob Geren whenever he puts Santiago Casilla on the pitcher’s mound.

by richwol1 on Aug 31, 2009 1:03 AM PDT reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to the SB Nation blog about Oakland Athletics.

Community Guidelines ANcillary Terms

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Aperture_logo_small
Community Prospect List #4
Img_2672_small
Long-Term Outlook

Recent FanPosts

Pumpkin_small
Maybe this is a stupid stats question
Small
A's reportedly sign Cespedes
Unknown_small
Is It Really Worth It: Three Veterans Who May Be Playing Oakland Next Year, But Shouldn't Be
Small
Manny's Contract
Small
fantasy baseball league for A's fans!
Small
NYY Proposal
Small
Roy Oswalt = opportunity
Choice_small
Tom Milone, by the numbers: Maddux, Glavine, Halladay, Radke...
Img_1877_small
Behind Enemy Lines

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >


Front Page Writers

Maya_papi_small Tyler Bleszinski

08-_the_author_small 67MARQUEZ

Josefav2_small danmerqury

Baseball_small baseballgirl

Poochini-butt_in_box_2_small Nico

Img_0653_small dwishinsky

Front Page Writers

Smiley_face_small gigglingone

Venasfans_small OaklandSi

60-minutes-clock_small cuppingmaster

Patpicturebucky2_small YonYonson

Img_3830_small David Fung

Moderators

Photofunia-5c770b_small coffee roaster

Denver_small Colorado Fan

Ls_logo100_small LoneStranger

Thumbs_up_small LongTimeFan

Marty_profile_in_green_small mrod

Img_1877_small Billy Frijoles

Babycomputergeek_small paris7

Img_0115_small Tutu-late