Hallelujah, it's over. Eight games and every imaginable way to lose games. Close ones. Blow outs. Walk offs.
But it took a confident kid coming up from Sacramento, a Kotsay ringing triple and Eric Chavez awakening from his slumber for the A's to pull it off. It was shaky for a little while at the end there with Dotel, but he got the job done and the A's are finally in the win column.
I almost forgot what this feels like to go to bed happy after an A's victory. But the A's offense has shown signs of coming out of their hibernation with 25 runs in the past four games. They also scored three runs off of Randy Johnson yesterday in the first inning and, perhaps more importantly didn't strike out all night. That's an accomplishment against Johnson.
Tonight, the true star to me was Watson. He hit a double and had the hit that brought the A's out in front. He also nearly made an excellent catch off of the Ortiz double. I loved the read off the bat he got on that ball. Plus, you can tell that he's a hitter. He doesn't wave at too many bad balls (although Timlin probably shouldn't have given the kid a fastball there).
I also think it was crucial to give Chavez a day off yesterday (even if he did pinch hit in the ninth). Sometimes it's good to have the guy sit back and watch for a day.
And finally, some props to Dotel for working through what was obviously a psychological challenge tonight. Talk about battling demons.
For one night, A's fans don't have to Wear it. Enjoy what has become an unfamiliar feeling around here tonight, AN. Sweet, sweet victory.
