Well, given the way Billy Beane has built this A's roster, he's apparently trying to eradicate the use of the word "gimme" by greedy little A's fans.
With ace-in-the-making Dan Haren vs Journeyman Avatar Steve Trachsel, and only-under-.500-recently Oakland vs drowning-all-season Baltimore, this game really shouldn't have been as much of a nail-biter as it turned out to be.
The A's managed to break through early against Trachsel (which they weren't able to earlier this week against Trachsel, Jr., aka Jamey Wright) to balance out Haren's increasingly-common early-innings jitters. Then, thanks to the Monkeyball Axiom (the team with more XBHs tends to win the game; I'm considering 2 2Bs + 1 HR to beat 3 2Bs) and Jack Cust's 17th HR, the A's added just enough to hang on.
Yes, a win is always cause for celebration. And the on-field appearance of Swisher, the nonsuckiness (for a night) of Crosby at the plate, the ability of Haren and Suzuki to work together to shrug off the 1st inning, and the continued stellar bullpen work from Casilla were all welcome sights.
But when Haren vs Trachsel feels this dicey all night long ...
