The A's hit a landmark tonight by both crossing the .500 mark as well as having more runs scored than runs allowed.
They also did it with defense as Eric Chavez and Jay Payton made key plays to keep Barry Zito alive. Zito continues his outstanding May, giving up a total of two earned runs over 27 2/3 innings for an ERA of about 0.65 for the month. He did get hit around a little more and if not for the defense behind him, it might've been a different story especially with those early plays. Payton and Kotsay did make errors later in the game, but Zito didn't allow anything after those errors.
Unlike the Mariners, whose two errors lead to two unearned runs for the A's. That's a total of seven unearned runs the A's have been given the last couple of nights. Don't get me wrong, the A's offense needs a few breaks here and there, but not every team is going to give you seven unearned runs in two games. There's a reason Billy Beane tried to upgrade the A's defense.
Congrats to Nick Swisher who kept his 34-game streak alive with a single in the fifth inning.
I also want to stop and give credit to Ken Macha who put together a perfect lineup to face Moyer tonight. He crafted it so that the guys who hit Moyer very well were bunched together. Kotsay is unconscious when he faces Dino-moyer. Kendall also has his number, Chavez owns him and we all know about Payton and Kielty's proficiency against lefties. So while Beane's depth quest has helped during this stretch, Macha has done a good job of piecing together a good lineup.
But I want to publicly say that my frustration level with Barry Zito has officially flatlined. The guy has done everything the A's have needed during this stretch without Harden and cough, cough, Loaiza. He's been what you need your veteran ace to be. Consistent and consistently deep in games. Not to mention healthy. Mutha frickin' healthy. And after the frustration with Harden and a myriad of other A's players, that is worth the price of admission.
