A’s A Bit Fried By Lawrie

So, I'm not sure that Gio Gonzalez pitched better or worse than his line shows, but in five plus innings, it's probably not a good showing when you allow five walks and four runs, no matter the reason. Gio threw a tremendous amount of pitches (60 in the first two innings) and the A's bullpen and offense just couldn't save him. This marks yet another pedestrian outing for Gio Gonzalez.

The real damage in the game tonight was done by rookie Brett Lawrie; all he did in his first week of work was connect with a grand slam to seal the loss for the A's tonight. He was also excited about it, in the way only a 21-year-old can be after THE hit of his early career.

Gio allowed one run in the first inning; the A's would tie the game on a solo homerun by David DeJesus in the fourth. They would also tack on two more on a double by Sweeney and a single by Sizemore, and seemed to be in great shape. Unfortunately, the sixth inning happened. Gio Gonzalez gave up a double and a walk to open the inning, but had a chance to get an out on the bases. However, instead of picking off the runner at second, Kurt Suzuki threw the ball into center field. After another walk loaded the bases, Gio was yanked in favor of Craig Breslow. Keep in mind, the game was 3-1 at this point.

Hide the kids and don't watch the next series of pitches. Breslow gave up an RBI single, would sandwich in a strikeout, and then would give up Lawrie's grand slam. Not so helpful, Bres.

The Jays would tack on another run in the seventh, and another in the eighth, and the A's would put a meaningless Willingham homerun on the board in the ninth; sadly a solo shot, and not the game-tying grand slam. So the A's lose 8-4, and drop Gio under .500 on the season. We play the rubber game tomorrow morning; don't forget!