Trade Rumor Mill: After not picking up a shortstop, the A's might be trying their luck in the catcher department, specifically George Kottaras from the Brewers.
Well, it was no yesterday's game; the A's never were behind--or really, felt behind--in the game, but it yields the same result; another day, another A's win. This green and gold club extended their July record to 18-3 (an astonishing .857 winning percentage), have climbed to 10 games over .500, are courting Miss .550, are 9-1 in their last 10 games and as of this moment, are watching the Angels and Rangers both lose. All this after the 100th game of the season.
Call it magic-y, or lucky, or clutch-y, or anything you want, but the A's offense turned 11 hits into six runs today, while the A's pitchers bent slightly, but did not break; they allowed 10 Baltimore hits, but only allowed a single token ninth-inning run. This game was never in doubt.
Bartolo Colon pitched into the sixth inning, allowing seven hits, striking out five, while walking just one. Jordan Noberto finished the sixth, pitched the seventh, and started the eighth, all without allowing a run to score. Evan Scribner pitched the rest of the eighth and the ninth, allowing only a solo homerun to break up the shutout in the ninth. Meanwhile, the A's offense does what it does; after Weeks singled and stole second in the fourth inning, Yoenis Cespedes took a two strike hack and sent the ball deep into the stands to give the A's an early 2-0 lead. He had quite a night; he would also rack up an RBI triple in the eighth and make a great running defensive catch in the bottom of the inning. The A's would also score in the fifth inning on a double by Suzuki and a single by Sogard, and they would officially pile on with a Chris Carter BOMB in the sixth.
There have been more exciting games this weekend, but this one was a solid win, with great pitching, great hitting, some baserunning, awesome defense, and when all is said and done, the A's sit 10 games over .500, and playing as well as they have played in at least six years. Set your clocks for morning baseball; the A's have won the series, and go for the sweep tomorrow at 10:35AM!
