Good ol' Arlington, where 8 runs gets you second place. Give Zito a QSIT, that esoteric stat known as "Quality Start In Texas". Somewhere, Chan Ho Park is cackling and Ryan Drese is rolling his eyes.
The notables tonight include:
- Jason Kendall's 3-hit night. He doesn't like to sit; he's better after he sits; sit him sometimes.
- Mark Ellis' 4-hit night. Zito is coming off a decent but uninspired season and he's on the ballot for Comeback Player of the Year; Mark Ellis is coming off of a season completely missed due to a potentially career-ending shoulder injury, so he isn't on the ballot; Huh???
- Mark Kotsay's impact in the 3-hole these last two games. In his two seasons with the A's, I think Kots has shown that while his style does not make him the ideal lead-off hitter, he is an excellent RBI guy (a career-high 70, and counting, in 2005, despite hitting 1st or 2nd all year). He belongs in that 3-6 part of the order.
- Eric Chavez' 4-RBI night. When Chavy doesn't try to pull everything, he is hard to pitch, and he has had more big hits this year than his critics like to remember (e.g. big HR in Atlanta, huge HR off Donnelly, clutch 2B on Wednesday...). Tonight was no exception, as he got the A's on the board, and put the game away. Ish. For a while, sort of.
