How come I woke up this morning with a bad taste in my mouth? Am I that spoiled by our Oakland Athletics that because they didn't clinch when I wanted to them to I can sulk?
I guess so. But regardless, I'm still very amped about the A's having the opportunity to play in the postseason. The reason I think I'm more upset about it than anything is because I think our starting pitchers could use a little rest and Macha could rearrange the rotation for the playoffs. Yes, it would've been nice to have clinched at the Coliseum (sorry for the ANers who were there), but these numbers are extremely worrisome:
Haren: 6.07
Blanton: 6.98
Zito: 6.31
Saarloos: 6.08
Loaiza: 4.18
Harden: 3.00
That's the A's starters ERAs in September. Even if the A's clinch over the next couple of days, this doesn't bode well for a long playoff run. Thankfully, the A's have been carried by their much-maligned offense and their stellar bullpen this month, so they've been able to maintain their lead.
I also guess it's appropriate that the A's try to wrap things up against Seattle because it's their remarkable record against the Mariners this year that has brought them to the cusp of clinching. I would've loved for the Angels to have to watch a celebration, but like I said, I think the bigger picture means opportunity lost in getting the starting pitching some rest and back on track. The other thing to note is that the A's have their two best starting pitchers (at least ERA-wise) going in these next two games...Loaiza and Harden. Let's just hope that the law of averages doesn't suddenly come into play and Seattle makes up a few of these games. The last thing the A's need is for this to extend into Anaheim.
