Hi everyone! This late-night recap is brought to you by the letters "G" and "T". As someone who did indeed attend the game tonight, Nico felt I was qualified to recap when I got to a computer that loaded AN. I do know that mobile commenting is available for phones, but somehow writing a recap on a Blackberry seems daunting, at best.
If you wanted chills tonight, this game was an Adenhart tribute, in which Wilhite threw out the first pitch to thunderous applause. It's hard not to take a moment for that incredible story.
The game did not start off fantastic for our boys in Green and Gold; Oakland starter Vin Mazzaro allowed a couple of hits and a sac fly in the third inning to put the Angels ahead 1-0, and a big homerun by Izturis in the fourth brought the score to 3-0. It was all Angels until the seventh inning.
Mazzaro would only pitch 5 innings in the game; allowing seven hits and the three runs; walking one while striking out four. There was never the sense that the game was over; it was only a matter of time before the A's got up off the deck. The bullpen is to be credited with their fantastic night--the opposite of last night. Jeff Gray; in what was actually an important appearance, pitched a scoreless sixth.
Then the A's came back.
Jered Weaver, who had pitched six scoreless innings, was replaced by Arredondo and anyone rooting for the A's liked this move a lot. Ellis singled, Barton walked, and Pennington singled to load the bases, and a wild pitch brought the first run home. After Kennedy struck out, Rajai Davis came to the plate. There was a visit to the mound and Rajai walked into the dugout to have a chat, and I think I yelled that if they pinch-hit for Rajai, I was leaving. (He would go 3-5 on the night.) The whole park seemed to know what was coming. Raj singled up the middle to bring in two runs, and tied the game at 3.
Enter winning pitcher Brad Ziegler, who needed all of seven pitches to dispatch the heart of the Angels' order in the seventh. He got the win when the A's quickly broke the tie in the eighth. Cust walked, Hairston singled, Sweeney bunted, Ellis walked, and Barton grounded out. It wasn't pretty, but it did the trick, and the A's--after being down all night--suddenly held a 4-3 lead.
Wuertz shut down the Angels with a perfect eighth inning, and Bailey came in for the save. Figgins singled with one-out, but Abreu flew out to Hairston, who threw to second to get the speedy Figgins, trying to advance. It was a sudden end to the game, but a great one for the A's.
Taking 2 out of 3 so far from the Angels is great to see, especially for the future. The A's had a chance at all three games in this series, and they go for the series win tomorrow. It's a little bittersweet that it's the Angels who will advance in October. If only...right?
Great win tonight; the A's will need all of their momentum going into tomorrow. 12:35 start, Anderson vs. (gulp) Lackey. I'll let you know how it was.
