What a Walk Off Win!

Derek Norris hasn't been a member of the A's for very long, but he made sure everyone in Oakland quickly became familiar with him today with a walk off win helping the A's avoid a series sweep at the hands of the cross-bay rival Giants. Norris, who got his first MLB hits yesterday, came to the plate with Jonny Gomes and Brandon Inge on base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth against Giants closer Santiago Casilla. With a full count, on the seventh pitch of the at bat, Norris homered to give the A's a 4-2 win, when they were on the cusp of a 2-1 defeat.

Norris wasn't the only A's youngster to get some early exposure to A's fans. The A's starter for the game was A.J. Griffin making a last minute start in place of the injured Brandon McCarthy. Griffin, pitched six innings allowing two earned runs on a first inning Buster Posey home run before settling in and keeping San Francisco at bay. Another rookie Athletic, Sean Doolittle, kept the game close giving Oakland one and two-thirds innings of two hit, three K relief, before journeyman Jim Miller finished off the final inning and a third keeping San Francisco off the board.

The A's offense was as, we've grown accustomed to, somewhat lifeless for a lot of the game. But given the outcome one cannot complain. Coco Crisp led off the game with a double and Josh Reddick pushed that run across the board with a single in the first. The A's almost tied things in the bottom of the sixth when Seth Smith seemingly had a run scoring hit, that was then ruled foul. Smith fouled out to end the inning keeping Matt Cain away from danger.

Always great to get a win like this! Sorry for the delay in getting this up! Listening on the radio driving back from seeing the River Cats in Las Vegas (not such a nice storybook ending up there).