New York is leaving today. The next time Oaklanders will see you in the East Bay would have to be in the playoffs in 2006. Otherwise, it's wait until 2007.
Milton Bradley will likely get all of the pub after his performance tonight, first getting the A's in the game with a two-run single and then later worked an 0-2 count to a walk to tie the game.
Then after Jay Payton reached on an error by Robinson Cano. Marco did what Marco does. He scutaroed the game...the new verb for putting it in the books.
Frank Thomas then added an exclamation point with a thunderous double.
But the truth is that this game was all about pitching. Danny Haren gave up the line drive home run to Sheffield, but he was mostly solid in striking out eight. I'll be the first to say that Joe Kennedy's moment facing Giambi was exactly the type of at-bat that I thought would cost the A's games this season. But Kennedy not only came through, he then finished out the game to get the win. I hope he proves me wrong all season.
When Billy Beane thought about remaking the bullpen a year ago, his belief was that he was going to try and make a team that could win games in the late innings, or building from the back of the game to the front. Perhaps that's why the A's pen has four former starters occupying it right now (five if you count Witasick). The theory for ages in baseball has always been that starters are better than relievers. They're starters because they have good enough stuff to get batters out multiple times. But if you take the starter and put him in the bullpen, then it's either a failed starting experiment or it's to get versatility. It's too early to draw too many conclusions over which this pen is, but in this series, that versatility led directly to two straight victories over the team that a recent survey by SI of baseball's GMs called the best in baseball.
So while we all bask in the glory of The Gamer and the Big Hurt's massive double, remember the group that will probably fly under the radar in the second straight rousing victory.
