So, here's the thing. If you had told me after Game 1; hell all the way up to inning 9 in Game 2 that the A's would get to a Game 5, I probably would have taken it cheerfully and probably thought we got a great deal. Should they have won tonight? Yes. Did seriously everything that could go wrong did? Yes. Were bad decisions made? Hell yes. Some of those bad decisions were not using your best defensive catcher, not pinch-hitting for a player who never should be up when contact needs to be made, pitching a rusty pitcher who gives up multiple runs every outing; hell for using Cook at all. But you know what? WE GET A GAME 5! This wasn't the way our season ended, thank God. We are still playing for #Oaktober, and we need just one win to reset. ONE WIN to go to the ALCS.
You know what else? We already beat Justin Verlander in this series once. Everyone in the lineup has seen him at least 3 times recently. They've faced--and hit--better pitchers since. They are HITTING. They scored six runs yesterday and six today.
And my final thought? The fans DESERVE a win at home after all that. Do we really want to waste champagne on Detroit's field? Hell no. Go to the game, cheer your freaking lungs out, and get this team back to an ALCS, like the old days. I want to see that 49,000+ crowd after a CLINCH.
EVERYONE TOGETHER:
LET'S GO OAK-LAND!
Billy Frijoles will be back with a recap. Hell, I would probably throw up a clip of Major League and call it a day, but he's better than I ;-)