Trevor Cahill wasn't sharp, but he did pitch out of several jams. He gave the A's seven solid, only giving up three runs and five hits. He walked too many (five), but the majority of those were early. He struck out eight. Quite honestly, he pitched well enough to win.
Jered Weaver continued his dominion over all things A's this season. The dirty surfer kept the A's down, though Oakland was not without chances:
- Bottom of the fifth, David DeJesus on first, when Kurt Suzuki drove the ball to deep left, third-base coach Mike Gallego sent DeJesus who was out at home by at least ten feet.
- Bottom of the sixth, runners on first and second, Hideki Matsui facing Weaver pops it up to the short stop on the second pitch.
- Bottom of seventh, after chasing Weaver, with runners on second and third and down by one, Coco Crisp hit a pitch which was (according to Vince) "right on the screws," but right at Erick Aybar.
- Bottom of the eighth, runners on first and second, with Conor Jackson at the plate, he grounds out weakly to short.
Positives:
- Matsui had an amazing catch in foul territory in the top of the third. He continues to impress when he's given the opportunity to play defense.
- DeJesus drove the ball well, stinging Weaver for two doubles.
- Suzuki is having a resurgence, both at catcher (he threw a runner out in the first!) and hitting--he was one for two with a sacrifice in the seventh and two teA'se-worthy foul ball/home run question marks. Luckily, Vince was only calling for one of them.
- Jemile Weeks came up big in the bottom of the seventh, too--finally forcing Weaver from the game, working a seven pitch single to right center and scoring Conor Jackson.
- Wuertz came back much stronger than last night and he and Feuntes held the Slegna back in the top of the eighth.
- We got to see FDLS, whose lead-off walk led to a run when it combined with an E6 and a hit. Per KK, it was the 52nd unearned run of the year for the A's. But he pitched out of trouble, leaving the bases loaded.
Okay! Let's play the second one of these things!
