- To beat the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park three games out of four in a series racking up not one, but two blowouts, is an incredible feat, under any circumstances. The A's should be very, very proud of themselves.
- Joe Blanton was nothing short of fantastic. Any time you can hold the RedSox's offense to one run, five hits, and two walks over seven innings in Fenway Park, you have pitched a gem, one that couldn't have come at a better time. And to give credit where credit is due, it was absolutely the right call to let him go seven full, and pull him for the eighth.
- Mark Kotsay did it all today, including giving the A's offense the lift they needed with the B-list lineup.
- Our defense, by and large, was amazing today. Jay Payton's catch, robbing Crisp of a hit immediately before the lone Boston homerun, left the score 5-1, instead of 5-2, giving us an extra cushion, invaluable against the RedSox's offense. Scutaro/Melhuse's play to get the first out of the eighth inning before the hit by Loretta may have changed the complexity of the whole inning.
- Melhuse was great at first base; I like his flexibility with his roles on the team. I just wish he'd play more, and that's not a knock on JK, who also turned in a fine performance today.
- I like seeing Nick Swisher high up in the lineup, even if it was completely by accident.
- Contrary to our feeling about the team sometimes, if things weren't going our way, David Ortiz would have taken the extra chance that Scutaro gave him and hit it 400 feet. The fact that he popped up not once, but twice in the same at-bat speaks volumes about Joe Blanton's stuff today.
- We owe Manny a tip of our caps for his absolutely incredibly idiotic baserunning. You never make the first out of an inning at third, and you certainly never make the last out of an inning trying to take the extra base at third. With two outs, even Manny is scoring from second on a single; and down four runs, it was a stupid decision all the way around. From the replays, he clearly went on his own, and we can thank 'Manny being Manny' for that gift out.
- I hope Frank Thomas is okay. I also hope he sits down and shares some batting tips with Bobby Crosby. Crosby is getting some great ABs, working the count in his favor a lot, but when it comes time to hit the ball, that's where the 'great' part ends. I'm tired of weak groundouts on 2-0, 2-1, and 3-1 counts.
- What is the deal with Eric Chavez?
- Anyone else REALLY love when Julian Tavarez comes into the game? I must remember to send him a nice fruit basket.
- It's nice to think that Texas was probably counting on this series to vault them ahead in the standings, and we turned the tables with the surprising outcome of gaining a game. Seattle lost too, and Anaheim is currently losing.
- Rinse, lather, and repeat starting tomorrow. The A's cannot let up. Not for a minute. It is becoming more and more likely that the only playoff team coming out of the West is the winner, and that needs to be our A's.
LET'S GO OAK-LAND!
