I guess that's why they play the game.
With Brett Tomko the apparent sacrificial lamb sent out to face the big, bad Yankees, this was one of those games that you marked with an "L" on your magnetic schedule long before the first pitch.
But a funny thing happened on the way to a Big Apple beat-down. Tomko tossed five shutout innings, Rajai Davis and Mark Ellis continued their torrid ways, and the A's walked off the diamond with a 3-0 victory.
Oh and it seems there were some signings tonight, too.
Seems Tomko's arm was not a bomb threat after all. Although he retired the side just once, he was never in any real danger, except for the third when he faced Alex Rodriguez with the bags loaded, and only one out. But Tomko got A-Rod to hit one back to the mound where he started an inning-ending, 1-2-3 double play.
All the game's runs were scored in the fourth, and good news for you dear reader, they all came on the A's side of the board. Davis doubled with one out, and stole third without a throw before Kurt Suzuki singled him home. Scott Hairston's base hit was followed by a Ryan Sweeney groundout that moved the runners up ninety feet. Suzuki scored on a balk by starter A.J. Burnett, who appeared to stop himself as if time was called. With Hairston on third, Ellis drove him in on a double that eluded Nick Swisher. Make that 20 RBI's in August for the second baseman.
And that was pretty much it, with one more scare in the eighth.
Craig Breslow allowed just a hit, while striking out a pair in two innings of work, and was followed by Brad Ziegler. With two on and two out in the eighth, Ziggy K'd Jorge Posada to douse the fire, and Andrew Bailey pitched a perfect ninth to close out a most improbable win.
