A's Down Brew 9-7

The A's bats looked alive today in the desert, as they teed off on Chris Narveson and cruised to a 9-7 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Narveson until this point had only allowed one walk in the Cactus League; the A's worked him for 5 BBs. OBP!

Chris Young especially had it in for Narveson, robbing him of extra bases with a nice over-the-shoulder catch in leftfield, and then hitting a grand slam in the bottom half of the inning.

Colon's outing was pretty decent, despite the hits. A lot of grounders found their way through. I don't expect that to continue.

Scott Sizemore and Josh Donaldson both went 4-4, raising their spring averages by something like 30-50 points. Sizemore seems to be seeing the opportunity at 2B that's there for the taking.

Our esteemed Chief Bender was there in person to witness today's piece of baseball history, so I'll paraphrase his observations to round off the recap. Go A's!

• Rule V pickup Nate Frieman made two line drive outs, one hard and the other not quite squared up. Also, in the field, looks sharp but a little clumsy at times. At the plate, putting too much weight on his front foot (perhaps this is a result of going from AA to MLB pitching, and the hesitance that can accompany that).
• Colon's velocity and command looked good during the first three innings, but location wasn't working in the 4th.
• Straily's offspeed stuff looked good, although he was mainly facing minor leaguers.
• Great plays in the field by Donaldson and Reddick.
• Norris looking locked in, and Jaso running well. If catcher can turn into a strength for the A's, watch out.
• Rosales: Strong D at SS, not so strong at the plate. Oh and Sogard got another hit today.