Wow. What a game! The A's battled and scratched and clawed and refused to go down.
So many stars of this game, it's difficult to know where to start.
Captain Obvious says Scutaro is the star of the game, but you've got to give credit to Bobby Kielty and Dan Johnson, without whom the A's would never have won the game. Kielty hit a key home run to bring the A's within two runs in the sixth inning.
But I honestly think that the biggest play of the game was the fake to third, throw to first pickoff play that resulted in Bobby Crosby getting Ben Broussard at home. If that play doesn't happen, the game might've gotten out-of-hand quickly with no chance of the dramatic ninth inning comeback. Haren might've wound up pulled out of the game early. Instead he lasted 5 1/3, striking out seven. It wasn't a great performance by Haren, but much like Blanton yesterday, Haren pushed through those innings.
Huston Street was his usual self, going two innings with two strikeouts, no hits and one walk.
You also have to give a lot of credit to Joe Kennedy, who did allow an inherited runner to score, but he also went 2 2/3 innings with two hits, FOUR strikeouts and one walk.
It is a little disconcerting that our 3-4-5 hitters were 0-14 with one walk and two strikeouts. But in a 162 game season, there will be games when the heart of the order will struggle. Chavez has definitely come back down to earth after a month of June when he hit .379 and had a .440 OBP, he's down to .279 in July with a .343 OBP.
That's why it's nice to have players like Marco Scutaro, who hasn't seen game action since July 23, be able to come in and pick his teammates up with a humongous base hit.
It seems to be a recurring theme with Scoot, and it leaves me with just one more thing to say:
MARCO!!!!!!!
