A's Bats Come to Life, But Pitching Can't Hold Off Giants

Well, today was a perfect day. I'm hailing from Phoenix in 80 degree weather, watching our A's get ready for another exciting season of baseball. First the good news: Jarrod Parker looked sharp today as he faced the minimum in his two innings, helped by a sparkling double play turned by Josh Donaldson. And the bad: Both Blevins and Blackley need a little work, and that's putting it charitably. I thought a 27 ERA was bad (Blevins), but the 7-spot sixth inning skyrocketed Blackley to 47.25.

The A's scored plenty of runs to win, but the pitching left a lot to be desired. Newby, Cook, Doolittle, Gordon, and Parker clocked in with scoreless outings, but Blevins, Blackley, Olson, and Simmons allowed the Giants to score 13 runs between them.

The A's managed to score nine runs of their own in the contest. The Weeks/Sizemore competition was front and center as they batted out of the 1 and 2 spot today; Weeks went 1-3, with a ringing RBI single, while Sizemore was hitless. Weeks also made a key error at second while trying to turn a double play.

Other assorted notes include how skinny Derek Norris looks, how patient Cespedes looks at the plate, how Seth Smith still can't hit good lefties, and how quick Chris Young's hands are on both offense and defense. Jed Lowrie looks to have limited range at shortstop, Michael Taylor finally got a good hit, and Daric Barton's beard deserves its own spot in the lineup.

Andy Parrino had a dream spring day; serving up two ringing doubles and making two absolutely stunning, acrobatic plays at third base. He joins Michael Choice and Chris Young as the A's multi-hit players today.

This game will be the next installment of the FanPost Game Recap Contest, and AN'ers "Trojanbrand" and "eastbaywolverine" will be posting recaps in the FanPosts shortly after the game. Make sure to vote for the one you like best by giving it a "rec" and the recap with the most rec’s will go up on the front page at the end of the night!