What a difference a day makes. Derrek Lee HRed, singled, and played gold glove 1B, Jeff Baker matched Lee's stellar defense at 3B, the Cubs went Dempster diving to find an effective pitcher, and finished off the A's with a quick cup of Marmol-Aid in a game that would feature as many first paragraph puns as A's runs.
Conor Jackson's first start for Oakland was largely successful, as the first A's Jackson ever to be not-very-famous (following Shoeless Joe, and Reggie) singled twice, walked once, and threw a runner out at the plate to keep the score just 2-1 Cubs at the time. Yay, Conor.
Gio Gonzalez was not at his best. It looked to me like his curve didn't have much "snap" -- more the looping "roundhouse curve" that is less dazzling and less deadly. He also never had command of, or confidence in, his changeup, and looked like a two-pitch pitcher tonight. Gio was charged with 6 runs in his 5 innings, a disappointing result matched by Kevin Kouzmanoff, who finally cooooooled off and had his 15-game hitting streak snapped.
With the Rangers and Angels both winning, the A's are a season-high 5 games out and with Chris Carpenter (Friday) and Adam Wainwright (Saturday) looming Oakland may be teetering on the brink of doing their best "sun impression" and sinking in the West. A good idea would be to snatch tomorrow's day game before heading to St. Louis.
