Spring training is a bitch, when the stadium's spectators include Huston Street, Justin Duchscherer, and Kiko Calero, and you have to be reminded why it's called the "back-end" of the bullpen. The A's have joined the Tigers and Twins and Cardinals as teams bumbling to the finish line and looking forward to the shot of adrenaline known as Tuesday. A few random thoughts to share:
- Since the A's pretty much have no idea how to get Chone Figgins out, perhaps Scioscia should have batted Figgins clean-up the entire season series. Good thing nobody thought of it until September 30th.
- Danny Haren had a Jeckyll and Hyde performance, making two mistakes (each hit for a solo HR) and allowing 9 hits, but also rediscovering the swing-through pitch and strikeout pitch that has eluded him during this recent rough patch. Having had a chance to see the game, and not just the numbers, I'd say there was a lot more good than bad. Just keep those HRs solo.
- I had to laugh at K-Rod's epileptic celebration at the end of the game. I know he broke Bryan Harvey's team record for saves, but all I could think of as he thanked the heavens for giving him the strength to strike out Marco Scutaro was, "You're still going home tomorrow, you goggle-eyed frog."
