At the stretch it was a tidy 2-2 pitcher's duel. Then in the bottom of the 7th, the A's defense reminded me of when I get crack an egg into a bowl and a little piece of the shell gets into the egg white and every time I think I've got it the shell squirts away and eventually I decide "I didn't really want an omelet anyway" and get out the Haagen Daas. Oh right, the baseball game.
So for the first 6 innings, it was Bengie Molina's 2-run HR in the 1st, soon after which Josh Outman settled down to retire 14 in a row. The A's got one back on Hannahan's leadoff triple in the 3rd, followed by two weak dribblers back to the mound and an Adam Kennedy single. They got the other back on Kurt Suzuki's HR in the 5th.
Then came the bottom of the 7th. It started with Bengie Molina lining a 3-2 pitch into the left-field corner, beginning a game of pinball with Matt Holliday playing the part of the flippers. The ball played keepaway long enough from Holliday - or Holliday from it - that Molina, whose speed is measured not by a stopwatch but rather by a calendar, legged out a double. Score one for continental drift. Then Pablo Sandoval, on an 0-2 pitch, hit a high, lazy and shallow pop fly to right field. Kennedy drifted back, Cust charged, and Crosby (playing at 1B) ran like a half crazed bull in Pamplona, half terrified elephant on amphetamines, and distracted Cust just long enough to ensure the ball would drop. I believe Cust then caught Crosby, but no out was awarded. Michael Wuertz was summoned, Juan Uribe poked the first pitch to right for a hit, and the 3-run rally was on.
What I want to say about that sequence of hitters is that while young pitchers need to throw strikes, Outman in particular needs to throw strikes, and it's terrific that Outman did not issue a walk in his 6+ innings, the trio of Molina, Sandoval, Uribe have a combined 540 ABs so far this season and 17 walks. Maybe the 3-2 pitch to Molina didn't have to be a hitter's pitch? Maybe you bounce an 0-2 pitch to Sandoval? Maybe your first pitch to Uribe isn't in the strike zone? Food for thought.
Speaking of food, I need an omelet a tub of Haagen Daas. G'nite all.
