It appears that a few A's hitters read my pre-cap in which I poked fun at their power numbers, or lack thereof.
Well, the joke is surely on me after home runs by Jeff Larish, Coco Crisp, and Jack Cust fueled a 5-0 whitewashing of the Tribe.
Hey, whatever works, right?
The beneficiary of Oakland's outburst was Gio Gonzalez who worked in and out of danger for three of the seven innings he was on the mound. The first jam was not his doing as a trio of A's errors- two on one play by Larish- put runners at second and third with two outs in the second. Gio was wise to take matters into his own hands, and he struck out Trevor Crowe to end the frame unscathed. Gonzalez- who recorded 7 K's to just one walk (and a hit batter)- didn't allow a hit until the fourth.
While the two-run homer by Larish- his first in green and gold- proved to be all the scoring the A's would need, they added two more long balls for good measure. Crisp- who is sizzling after a 3-for-5 night that included his 22nd stolen base and two runs scored- hit a solo shot in the fifth. Cust connected in the seventh with a man on, his tenth on the year.
And we're back at .500.
Fly true, my little friends.
