Now this is more like it.
After failing to hold slim leads the first two games of the season, the A's tried a different approach: they let their guests score first. That formula worked like a charm, and rumors of the team's demise have been found to be, for the moment, greatly exaggerated.
Don't let the 7-1 score fool you. By no means was this the breakout performance we've been looking for from Oakland's offense. But when you've managed a measly four scores in your first 18 innings, seven runs- even those aided by the sun and a few misplaced pitches by the opposition- should keep the A's from having to sleep on their side of the bed tonight.
The A's scored their touchdown on a day a field goal would have sufficed as Gio was plenty good. In seven innings, he allowed but one run, courtesy of a no-doubt blast off the bat of Ryan Langerhans in the second.
Oakland got that run back in the third, thanks to an extra crispy triple by Coco Crisp, who was a homerun shy of a cycle this afternoon. Coco's three-bagger scored Kevin Kouzmanoff.
A Mark Ellis groundout pushed across the lead run (unearned, at that) in the fourth, and with the A's in desperate need of insurance, like a good neighbor, Ellis was there (thanks OAH), singling home Josh Willingham in the sixth.
The A's took advantage of a break and Mariner wildness to score four more after the stretch. Langerhans joined Milton Bradley by losing a ball in the sun (ruled a Crisp double), Three walks, a hit batter, a soft single, and a sac fly later, and it was 7-1 A's. Hideki Matsui, who earlier collected his 2500th career hit, drove home the A's third run of the inning.
Having thrown 116 pitches through seven, Gio was left to enjoy the rest of his afternoon from the dugout.
After a day off tomorrow, the A's take to the road for nine games.
(Yay GOLD ALTS!)
