I was coming to believe that the A's were destined to roll that rock up the hill to .500, only to fall back down again. The baseball Sisyphus, if you will.
The game itself was mini-exercise in futility. Every time the A's looked like the rock was at the top, it tumbled back down on its own weight.
Ken Macha is even being called out by some of his own players for the use of Street in the 11th. Eric Chavez, one of Macha's closest allies, had this to say about Street coming out to pitch the 11th:
There are a few other things to note about this game.
First, this is exactly the type of game the A's were losing earlier in the season. They've won more than a few of these lately showing that the young team is, in fact, growing up.
Second, speaking of the young guys, DJ was at the center of it all today, hitting (3 for 5 with a walk, a home run and a double), fielding and ridiculously bad baserunning. But that's going to happen with young guys trying to make their way in the majors. Chances are that Durazo will be waiting on the other side of the All Star break. The first base and DH rotation will suddenly become a lot more interesting.
And third, Jason Kendall is now hitting .281 and has an OBP of .361. He's slowly but surely becoming the player Billy Beane went out and dealt for. No one expects him to hit home runs, but he's starting to pick up the pace, at least in terms of doubles. He has three in July, whereas he only had three in all of June. Oh, and his OBP is .442 for the month. I'd say that's exactly what you want from your leadoff guy. Remember, he is also the one responsible for helping the young pitching staff develop as well.
Regardless, we'll have to see how this either affects or doesn't affect Street moving forward. The point is that our little Sisyphus finally got the rock to the top and started rolling it down the other side.
Just in time. Of course, waiting for them on the other side is the Texas Rangers who will be intent on pushing the A's right back.
