Who needs a rifle when you have a Bowen arrow? Score one for the “didn’t see that one coming” department, as Rob Bowen homered from both sides of the plate to turn a 3-3 game into a 6-3 A’s win.
Since he joined the A’s, I’ve actually liked Bowen’s swing, but like Danny Putnam before him, the nice swing kept missing or fouling balls off so you couldn’t really lavish praise on the nice swing. But on a night that almost belonged to the defensive stylings at third base of the A’s former backup catcher, Bowen stole the spotlight and the A’s trotted away with the series win.
And now a word about stupidity. Dueling stupidity. It’s fine for Ron Washington to like the bunt, but when you’re playing in Arlington, when the guy who homered his last time up is hitting, when Michael Young is on deck and a big inning looms as a real possibility, when your bullpen is missing Gagne, Otsuka, and Mahay, having been replaced by Schidt, Krapp, and Dung, you don’t play for one run and the tie in the 7th inning. And when the other team gift-wraps that out for you…You don’t throw to second, Huston. Nice recovery, though, by Street who had his old slider back. And a solid bounce-back inning for Casilla. And a save by the save-iest (my spell-checker just tried to change that to “savviest”) lefty the A’s have ever had.
Enjoy the off-day tomorrow, Oakland’s first in three weeks, and then Rob Bowen will continue his pursuit of Bonds’ record on Friday.
