As the lineups were posted today, and the A's finally announced Graham Godfrey as today's starter, this outcome was already in the minds of many A's fans. Indeed, the Angels took notice, too, as they decided to go without batting practice. Turns out, while they pounded out 10 hits tonight, they probably didn't even need to swing the bat. Godfrey was more than happy to issue free passes at will, and when he wasn't doing that, they got their BP in during the game. Albert Pujols connected for his 13th hit against the A's this year, this time of the 4-base variety. They scored 4 runs off of Godfrey, who had a horrible outing: out of 54 pitches, he managed only 23 strikes. Travis Blackley came in to relieve him, pitching 3.2 innings of solid relief. Jim Miller and Jerry Blevins completed the garbage time assignments, closing out the game to save Ryan Cook et al for tomorrow.
All this would have been worse had the A's not flashed some leather during the game. Pennington and Donaldson probably saved 3 hits between them. The Angels also managed to run into 3 outs on the basepaths. The offense didn't do the A's any favors, managing only 1 hit total off of C.J. Wilson, who threw 125 annoying pitches.
So, what happens Monday when Godfrey's turn comes up again? I mean, I understand the sentiment that he's not a prospect, so might as well throw him out there. Also, the A's will be in Minnesota, the consensus worst MLB team at this point, and Godfrey may have had a blister issue or some other hand concern. That said, I do want to see what someone like Brad Peacock has in what's likely to be a soft assignment. Decisions, decisions.
Luckily, there's another game tomorrow, where Reddick and Weeks will hopefully return to upgrade this lineup to its former mediocrity. Join baseballgirl for the 12:35 dollar Wednesday start. Jared Weaver battles Jarrod Parker for the battle of first-name-spelling supremacy.