I want to see that headline in tomorrow morning's Chronicle, Sluss. I dare you. The bottom (no pun intended) of the 6th vacillated back and forth between balls that were hit really softly and balls that were hit really hard. Unfortunately for Guillermo Moscoso, Howie Kendrick hit one of the hard ones.
It was 1-1 when Erick Aybar dropped a perfect bunt single down the 3B line to lead off with only the Angels' second hit of the night so far. Kendrick didn't get a hit, but his searing line drive might have been the game's pivotal swing because it nailed Moscoso high up on the gluteal region, if you will, with Moscoso having the presence of mind to pick up the baseball in front of him, rather than focus on the scattered remains of his upper ass behind him, and record the out at 1B.
Then came another very softly hit ball, a 63-hopper by Bobby Abreu between 1B and 2B that drove home the go-ahead run. Then came another very not-softly hit ball, on really Moscoso's only mistake of the evening, a possibly throbbing-posterior induced center-cut fastball with nothing on it that Torii Hunter deposited into the LF seats. Speaking of seats, did I mention that our pitcher was nailed in the buttocks by a line drive tonight?
The other notable in the game was the battle to claim the inside part of the plate. Josh Willingham, who was drilled by Jered Weaver last night, had to hit the deck when a Jerome Williams fastball ran up and in. Two outs into the bottom half of the inning, Moscoso hit Peter Bourjos, but not on the ass. On the leg.
Which reminds me of one other notable, a positive the A's can take from an otherwise forgettable performance: Kurt Suzuki threw Bourjos out stealing with a perfect throw and appears to have come a long way towards solving the throwing woes that plagued him for a good three months. That, and Jemile Weeks' 14th game of 3-hits or more -- three singles, two RBIs, and one SB -- constitute the best news of the day.
The Angels end the day 2.5 back of the Red Sox in the wild card, with Tampa Bay 1.5 back, and Boston throwing John Lackey and Tim Wakefield in a double-header tomorrow against the Yankees. This thing ain't over yet, folks.