Well, like most of the A’s ballpark, the A’s announcers, and Dallas Braden, I thought that the game was over early, as Braden got absolutely lit up again by the Tigers. There may be a reason that Dallas Braden is not succeeding at the major league level: He’s simply not making major league pitches.
But unlike the usual story where the opposing team goes ahead big and early and cruises to the win, the A’s offense and bullpen teamed up to take Braden off the hook. The A’s offense amazingly tied the score at seven in the ninth, capped off by Suzuki’s huge 2-run homerun, but after the A’s put three more runners on base against Todd Jones with nobody out, Piazza proved he is a true Athletic by grounding into a 6-2-3 double play, leaving the winning run at third with two outs. Add to that the great block by Pudge, and the barely-hung-onto ball off Johnson’s bat, and the A’s were denied the win in the ninth.
The A’s bullpen kept the A’s in the game by not giving up a run after the Braden/Lugo combination let seven score. Colby Lewis, Andrew Brown, Jay Marshall, and Santiago Casilla collectively shutout the Tigers, and Huston Street mirrored their performance in the tenth to get the A’s offense back up to bat.
Mark Ellis took one for the team to lead off the tenth, prompted the dry comment from Brad Fischer, "We’ve got ice". Then in a play that never works out right for the A’s; with Hannahan batting, Ellis was sent, the bunt sign was pulled, and the game was won by a simple bloop single exactly on the line.
This game was great from the seventh inning on, after another discouraging start by Braden. The A’s really pulled things together in the seventh, pulling within two runs, and never really gave up, going all the way to extras, led by the bottom three of the order: Hannahan, Scutaro, and Suzuki, who all had great days. I like watching rookies. I’d like to keep Hannahan and Suzuki, please.
Final Score: A’s 8, Detroit 7
The A’s come down my way tomorrow night to play the Angels. Game time is at 6:00 PM
