Not much mystery in today's loss. When your starting pitching and defense gives up eleven runs in the first innings over the last two days to the team with the best record in baseball, that's an awful lot to ask your offense to try and fix.
I liked the second homerun for Scutaro in as many days; I thought the errors cost the A's dearly, which just highlights the importance of the A's usual stellar defense, and I'm just really glad we got yesterday's win.
Some good news: Our starting pitching is much better than this week has shown. I don't imagine they will make it a habit to give up 5+ runs in the first. Add to that, our bullpen has continued to be solid, and we can only hope that our offense can keep putting some runs on the board. We've had a pretty good road trip, but things don't get easier at home; we're facing Boston tomorrow night, followed by Toronto during the weekend.
We're still in first; Texas lost today. The Angels; however, did not.
Trying to understand some of the negativity on the site recently, I sat down last night and asked the question, "Why are the A's in first place and I'm disappointed?"
I don't honestly think it has much to do with the A's record. I think it has to do with the expectations of this team going into this year, and for me, the sole fact that we were supposed to have Harden, Bradley, and Chavez all year, is enough to make me less-than-ecstatic about the resulting season. If these three players had been consistently healthy, I think the A's would be waltzing away with the division, and it's a maddening game of 'what if' to know that we own one of the best toys on the block, yet we can't play with him, and that we had the potential to feature a lineup that's not last in every offensive category except double-plays, yet we haven't had a full week of that lineup. That's my frustration, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
And health issues are the worst...because really...who do you blame?
But that being said, this is our team; the team that we root for and love, in victory and defeat, and this season is NOT over. The A's are nothing if not resilient, and it's time for their next test. A's vs. Boston. Tomorrow night.
LET'S GO OAK-LAND!
