Last night, everything that could go wrong for the A's, did go wrong. Tonight, the baseball gods paid the A's back with a Cabrera muff and a Shields wild pitch.
But how about Nick Swisher coming through with a single against one of the toughest relievers in baseball? This after two earlier strikeouts. That and he made an outstanding play to tag and aggressively go to third on Kendall's deep fly ball.
Barry Zito wasn't his regular self tonight with the five walks, but he still lasted six innings. Then Duke was Duke, Witasick was Witasick and Street was Street.
Payton's triple was also huge. I almost had a heart attack when he was legging it for third because I thought the Angels were going to play it cleanly. But it turned out to be a key play.
Adam Melhuse deserves so much praise. The guy has hardly played at all in the first four months of the season. He's getting an opportunity with Hatteberg's injury now and just completely taking advantage of it. In August, his OPS is a ridiculous 1.433.
And finally, for those who thought that Billy Beane should make a big deal around the deadline, look what Payton, Witasick and Kennedy have provided for this team. Who needs Adam Dunn or Mike Sweeney (not that I would've turned them away)?