A's Lose Late Lead To Texas Rangers.......... Yet Again

Wow that was tough to watch. It certainly wasn't a walk-off but it sure hurts like one.

AJ Griffin, making his second career start threw six innings limiting the Rangers to only two hits and two walks with 4 strikeouts, finished his outing at 109 pitches and a 2 - 0 lead. The first run by the A's came in the 4th inning after Jemile Weeks led off with a triple and was brought in by a single from Yoenis Cespedes. The next run came in the 5th inning when Derek Norris, playing at DH today, led off the inning with a single, which was followed by a walk from Chris Carter and an RBI single from Coco Crisp plated Norris to give the A's the 2 - 0 lead. Jerry Blevins then pitched a perfect 7th inning with a strikeout, but it all went downhill from there.....

As the 8th inning began, Josh Reddick replaced Jonny Gomes who was playing right field, for defensive purposes because having a good outfielder is good when you want to keep the lead (keep reading). Ian Kinsler led off the inning with an easy fly out to Josh Reddick. 1 out. Grant Balfour then throws a fastball right down the middle to Elvis ANdrus, who slaps it straight to center field for a base hit. Elvis Andrus then steals 2nd base, but it didn't matter as Balfour eventually walked Josh Hamilton to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Adrian Beltre then flew out to Josh Reddick for the 2nd out and it looked like the A's had a chance to get out of the inning with the lead intact. Balfour then loaded the bases by walking Michale Young and then proceeded to walk the following batter, Nelson Cruz to shorten the lead to 2 - 1. A's manager Bob Melvin then replaces Balfour with Ryan Cook to try and get a 4-out save en route to a win. This is where the part about having a good defense behind you kind of helps you keep a lead.

With 2 outs and the bases loaded, Craig Gentry hit what was ruled a bases-clearing triple to Yoenis Cespedes, who was playing left field today. In reality, Cespedes misplayed the ball by moving to his left when in fact the ball was driven a bit farther than he expected and landed out of his reach, giving the Rangers the lead that they would not give back. Tanner Scheppers closed the game for the Rangers, inducing a ground out and a pop out from Brandon Inge and Derek Norris before giving up a solo home run to Chris Carter to shorten the lead to 4 -3, but pinch-hitting for Brandon Hicks was Seth Smith, who proceeded to ground out to Ian Kinsler for the 3rd out.

So the A's lose their second game in a row, the Rangers assure themselves at the very least a series split, and we have to watch it all again tomorrow.......