Padres 5, A's 2
I wish I had better news for A’s fans, but I really don’t. In case you missed it, Justin Duchscherer is having exploratory surgery and will start the season on the DL. This is even worse than it appears, since they don’t know what is wrong. No timetable will be assigned until that is determined.
Trevor Cahill had the chance to secure the fifth starter spot against the Padres' relatively anemic offense in tonight’s sell-out game, but he struggled early and often, and as much as I hate to say it; he probably would be best served starting the season in Triple-A. Despite pitching a scoreless three innings to start the game, Cahill didn’t look strong; he danced around control issues, and relied on his defense to get out of the innings. His luck ran out in the fourth, as Hairston’s 3-run homerun capped off a four run Padres’ rally. His final line ended up with 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO. It was a bad start.
Blevins threw an unusual (for him) scoreless Spring Training inning, but Hairston got to Devine as well; this time a solo homerun to put the Padres up 5-0 in the sixth. That was more than enough offense with Peavy on the mound, but it is worth noting that Springer shut down the Padres in a stellar inning (0 H, 2 SO), and Edgar Gonzalez redeemed himself in his two (2 H, 0 ER, 2 SO).
Jake Peavy, fresh off his WBC stint, was practically unhittable. The A’s could only manage singles from Holliday and Sweeney in his six innings. They would only double that hit total later in the game, but they made them count; Garciaparra and Cust went back to back in the eighth for the A’s only runs.
An interesting trade proposal was mentioned in the game thread; one that I thought I’d at least put out there: package up some prospects and trade for Peavy. After tonight’s game, Cahill’s start, and the Duchscherer news, that doesn’t sound half bad.
