Geren's Brain Off, Davidson Goes Off, Kouzmanoff Walks Off

Let me just quickly recap the bottom of the tenth inning here:

• Coco Crisp struck out swinging, said a few spicy words, and was ejected by umpire Bob Davidson, before being forcibly restrained by Bob Geren.
• Daric Barton singled, and advanced on a pitcher's foot twitch balk call by, again, Balkin' Bob Davidson.
• Terry Francona stupidly decided to intentionally walk Suzuki, in order to face a stronger hitter in Jack Cust. You know, the guy who never grounds into a Boston-needed double play?
• Francona pulled RHP Ramon Ramirez for LHP Dustin Richardson.
• Bob Geren, in a moment of complete and utter ineptness, pinch hit Adam Rosales for Jack Cust. I can't emphasize this enough—in a one out, two on, walk-off scenario, he removed his best hitter for a barely average one.
• Adam Rosales was unable to check his swing on strike three, but the umpires ruled that he didn't swing. Terry Francona, already fuming over the balk call, uttered a few choice words, but his pitching coach, John Farrell, added a few naughty gestures. Ejection.
• Adam Rosales swung and missed on strike three. Or four.
  
• Francona pulled LHP Dustin Richardson for RHP Michael Bowden.
• Kevin Kouzmanoff shot a line drive single to RF for the game winner.

It was a win, but I feel a little dirty about celebrating over this one. Not only was Geren completely outmatched, umpire Bob Davidson had as big a contribution as anyone.

4.2 innings, ten hits, and four runs doesn't sound so great, but Braden pitched significantly better than his line looks. The damage was done in the first two innings, and he was helped by a handful of shoddy defensive plays. He settled down rather nicely after that, and he did manage to strike out six of the twenty four batters he faced. And, in the land of the injury watch, it's worth noting that he threw fifteen breaking pitches tonight, and for the most part, they were sharp.

But you know what? I'll take it if it means the A's are .500 again.