Did you think it was gone? I know I did. From the way Eric Chavez stopped and posed and how excited Glen Kuiper got, I thought Chavy got all of that pitch from F-Rod.
Well, Frankie say relax. It was a nice script, but didn't happen.
Blanton was absolutely brilliant tonight after the first inning and basically had two hard hit balls that cost him. Guerrero and Erstad's hits that largely accounted for the runs scored against him. The beautiful part about the past two nights is that the A's young pitching should be able to keep them in this race, despite the rash of injuries to the team. Blanton had 10 strikeouts tonight and was possibly more dominant than I've ever seen him (and I watched him a bunch in Sacramento last season).
The A's real shot at it came in the eighth when the bases were loaded and Swisher flied out to Anderson. I would've liked to have seen Swish taken another pitch there since he was ahead in the count 2-0. I mean a walk was just as good as a hit there. But who am I to say? I've never stood in a batter's box.
Also, Rodriguez looked very hittable over these past two games. Let's hope that continues over the next four weeks because that could help keep the A's alive while their walking wounded heal.
The A's should get some reinforcements tomorrow with the September call-ups. I'm guessing Watson, Garcia, Flores, Cruz and Castillo will be the mix. But with Billy Beane, you never know.
