I think the problem with today’s game was the fact that the offense left 400,000 15 runners on base through ten innings. The A’s certainly had their chances to win it, and they toyed with us just a bit, as Crosby brought home the tying run to take the game to the tenth, but the bullpen couldn’t trade zeros forever (read: Street does not want to get traded tomorrow). The A’s eventually lost the game, and were swept for the first time in twenty years by the Royals at the Coliseum.
The highlight of the game was our very own Ziggy pitching three innings (recording 3 DPs) to take his scoreless streak to 30 IP, so congratulations there! I guess he can pitch three innings in a game. It’s too bad that he wasn’t used in a couple of different situations back when the A’s were looking to be only four games back. Remember those days? Those were also the days when the possible return of Frank Thomas this weekend would have made the team ecstatic, instead of the current feeling of ‘too little, too late’.
The problem wasn’t really the hitting today; the A’s recorded 13 hits, but they couldn’t deliver when it counted, no spot highlighted more than Bankston’s 0-5 with 8 left on base. His 0-fer negated the multi-hit game of Cust, Brown, Ellis, Hannahan, and Crosby. The A’s had a chance to score the fourth run of the game in the sixth, but Carlos Gonzalez was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. Despite being out by quite a bit, I think he absolutely should have been sent. When your team is struggling to get RBI hits the way the A’s are, you take the chances you are given and make the other team make plays. And the Royals did.
On the other side, Gallagher threw five innings of okay ball, and left trailing 3-2, but Ziegler bailed him out in the sixth, and stayed in for both the seventh and the eighth, while the A’s tied the game, and handed the ball over to Huston in the ninth. Huston pitched a scoreless ninth, but a leadoff walk led to the winning run in the tenth.
And so it goes. The A’s are swept by the Royals at home, and now must face Boston on the road. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the roster spots over the next 24 hours, and it would be nice if our team could manage to not embarrass itself in Fenway.
Here’s to a win in Boston!
