Honestly, go look up Nico's recap last night, add three additional Mariners' runs, and you'd have tonight's game.
I'm tired of our offense. Quite frankly, I don't care if they are actually facing Cy Young every single night; HOW IN THE HELL CAN A MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM NOT SCORE A RUN! IN TWO NIGHTS! AND IT FEELS LIKE THEY NEVER WILL AGAIN! And I spent my Friday night watching this? I'd rather watch that fishing show; you know where every episode seems like they are replaying the same boat trip all over again? And that is saying a lot. I used to laugh when the Coliseum would have fans vote on which highlight they might like to see that night. It always ended with the obligatory choice of "Watching Paint Dry" or "Watching Grass Grow". I'm a gigantic baseball fan and I would probably take either choice than to watch this sorry ensemble of crappy hitters ground the ball to the nearest infielder over and over again for 3+ hours. I love my baseball and all, but there's a limit. And this is not baseball! This is horrible!
Tyson Ross wasn't good tonight. But it didn't really matter, did it? He would have lost giving up one run. Of course, his 45 balls and 31 strikes (you don't see that often) helped no one, but he wasn't the problem. He allowed one early run as Pennington did his best impression of a matador, throwing his cape to the side as the ball went right through him for the Mariners first run. Ross put two runners on in the fifth, earning him an early exit. Jerry Blevins might be part of the problem; he walked the bases loaded, walked in a run, and then gave up a smash single, creating an insurmountable 4-0 deficit for the A's offense, who happen to look over-matched when the other team hits an infield single.
Meanwhile, the A's offense? Turned two leadoff walks into zero runs in the second inning (helped by Ellis/Kouzmanoff strikeouts), got Kouzmanoff thrown out at home in the fifth on a weak ground ball to first (Crisp), wasted back-to-back singles in the sixth, and allowed pinch-hitting Conor Jackson to ground into a game-ending double-play with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth. I'll give you that Michael Pineda was awesome, and he's a legit prospect, but I'm tired of making excuses. It's impossible to tell if the pitcher was good, or the A's offense is just really that bad.
The one bright spot in the game was the return of Ziggy to his old form. After Blevins' meltdown in the fifth, Ziggy came in with runners at first and third and one out and used 8 pitches to strike out both batters. He also retired two more in the sixth. That's right. The highlight of the GAME was the relief pitching. You should be ashamed of yourselves, offense.
We do it again tomorrow. Kudos if you're still here. And sober. (And for those of you who celebrate the holiday weekend, Happy Passover, Good Friday and Easter.)
