This one started out with a modicum of promise: the Big Hurt knocked a solo HR in the first, and Dan Meyer set the Tigers down in order in the bottom half of the frame.
Unfortunately, in the second inning, the Tigers matched the A's solo HR.
Then, in the third, they exceeded it.
And, in the fourth, they extended their solo HR lead.
The A's had briefly tied it in the top of the third on a Cust RBI single -- and that was it for the A's offense for the evening. They did accumulate 10 hits for the game, but they never clustered them.
And, boy, did the Tigers cluster them in the seventh and eighth.
And there's only so many innings that Brad Ziegler can throw. Embree and DiNardo, the tail end of the A's bullpen that's looking more frayed than Chavvy's right shoulder, surrendered 7 runs over the last two innings, and the game ended up a rout.
In the increasingly desperate and obligatory "little kernels of corn we can pick out of the pile of crap that was this game" segment of Your AN Game Wrap, we can observe that:
- Jack Cust is looking more and more like a ... real ... outfielder; and he hit the ball pretty darn well, to boot (damn! shouldn't say "boot" after praising Cust's fielding ...)
- Meyer didn't look half-bad -- a lot of movement on his pitches, not afraid to challenge hitters -- and if he were 22, you might think ... nah, never mind
- Santiago Casilla, after getting an epic talking-to/stare-down from Bob Geren, looked better than he has since coming back off the DL; unfortunately, "manning up" on the mound despite not having 100% confidence in the stability of your elbow often can have ... uh ... less-than-desirous after-effects
So, rise and shine early tomorrow morning, AN'ers. Reveille is at 10:05 a.m. PDT for the rubber match of the series and a merciful end to this Batless Death March of a road trip.
