So, how best to describe today’s marathon contest? I would venture to say that offense was not a problem for either team, but if you were looking forward to today’s billed pitching match-up, you were probably disappointed. Padilla pitched to exactly two batters before making the game-ending mistake of hitting Nick Swisher, who promptly charged the mound, taking himself and Padilla out of the game. On the other side, DiNardo didn’t make it through two; a pitching line of 1.2 IP, 2H, 4BB, 5ER speaks for itself.
Lugo was only marginally better in his two innings of work, but Braden was able to pitch the next three without further incident. The A’s offense, in the meantime, backed by excellent days by Suzuki (why, oh why couldn’t he have started the season!), Hannahan and Ellis, made up the deficit and actually led the A’s to a slim 8-7 lead going to the eighth.
Enter Andrew Brown. Exit the ball, as Michael Young cleared the bases with a grand slam, putting Texas on top 11-8. The A’s rallied for another comeback in their half of the inning, but were only able to score one. A seemingly insignificant ruling (a catcher cannot stop the ball using his mask) would have given the A’s another run, since the penalty is two bases for each base-runner, but Geren could not win the argument.
When it was all said and done, the A’s had fallen short, losing the final game of the series 11-9. Today’s BartonWatch finds Daric with a hit, a walk, and an RBI, and the EllisHomerunTracker climbs to 18.
All in all, this series was by no means a showcase of top major league talent, but at least it suggests that the A’s were better than someone this season. And that’s just going to have to be enough for 2007.
And if you want to see highlights from the game, don’t miss Swish’s ‘takedown’. That should be excellent fodder for the 2008 A’s commercials. Either that, or ‘introduction to wrestling’.
The A’s take on Seattle tomorrow at 7:05
