Let's pretend Spring Training ended yesterday afternoon, with the come-from-behind tie. Today's uninspiring loss did nothing except thin the pitching herd a bit. Graham Godfrey, called the "front-runner for the fifth starting job" on today's broadcast, looked positively awful; allowing six hits, two walks, and three runs in his three innings pitched; struggling the entire outing. Evan Scribner threw two scoreless innings, allowing only a walk, before Travis Schlichting completely and utterly melted down; possibly knocking himself out of the bullpen race. Recording only one out against five hits, one walk and four runs on the last day of camp will do that.
Justin Souza cleaned up the inning in a scoreless effort, and Jordan Norberto (a good candidate for the 'pen) allowed two hits, a walk, and a run in his inning. Erick Threets (?) pitched a scoreless inning to end the game.
The A's offense racked up 11 hits today, but couldn't make them count for more than three runs. Weeks and Allen (who I bet will be starting at first base; that's my pick) had two hits; Barton, Cowgill and Rosales each had one. Crash Davis Wes Timmons even got an appearance, and is going to Japan. I don't think it's very likely that his cup of coffee will come with the A's at the start of the season with the third base logjam, but stranger things have happened.
So, the A's lose 8-3, and we lose them for a week; neither exhibition game will be broadcast, because clearly, we do not matter. Tune in all this week as we decide our starting lineups, our 25 man roster, and join me on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at 3:00 AM for the very first game thread of the season!
