Recap #35: A's Tie Game With 2-Outs in Ninth, Umpires Get Call Wrong, Make A's Lose

Okay, I know everyone is off to the Warriors game (Go Dubs!), but if you wanted to know what happened to the A's today, just be prepared to want to throw something.

First of all, let me start with our radio announcers. This last week has proven impossible to listen to our own broadcast, because I don't know what is up with them lately, but they have become the worst judges of fly balls I've ever seen. Honestly, they have fooled me about 6 times this week alone both on offense and defense by miscalling balls. "It's a routine fly ball to Cespedes, WHOA, it's over the wall!" "It's a routine shallow ball to Smith, OH, IT BOUNCES OFF THE WALL!" and "WHOA WHAT A HOMER...the centerfielder just caught it." I'm tired of not being able to get an accurate game call. I'm tired of listening to the game on the radio CONVINCED that Rosales did not homer because of our own announcers, and when a) I listen to Cleveland's announcers b) watch the damn replay myself and c) read everyone else in baseball's reaction and I realize that Adam Rosales DID homer in the ninth inning and our announcers, but more importantly the umpiring crew WITH UNLIMITED TIME TO VIEW THE REPLAY, missed a call and lost us a game. "Why did Melvin get kicked out of the game? That's weird! I've never seen that after a replay before. Maybe he's mad about last night and it's carrying over." Thanks for that.

Bob Melvin never should have left the field. He should have been kicked out (he was, promptly), but he should have protested the game on the spot and made the umpires call security to carry him out. He was hot, and no one could blame him. Instant replay only works if you are willing to get the call right, and from everything I have read, there was ample evidence that the replay showed a homerun. Don't believe me? Watch it yourself.

And here I thought that nothing could take the attention off of Daric Barton in tonight's game.

The ninth inning rendered the previous eight all but useless. Which is fine, since the A's scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning (allegedly), and the Indians scored 2 in the fifth and 2 in the sixth off Griffin, who had some help in ruining what was up to then, a perfectly good start. Brandon Moss drove in the A's first run, and after a walk in his first at-bat--the first baserunner to reach on Masterson--Daric Barton hit a 2-RBI single to give the A's a 3-0 lead.

Griffin would load the bases with the help of two walks in the fifth, and a nice play by Donaldson got the out at home for the first out. Griffin then induced a ground ball for the double-play, but Rosales' errant throw got through Barton to allow both the first and second runs to score for Cleveland. Griffin had no one but himself to blame in the sixth when two absolutely crushed homeruns took Cleveland from a deficit to a lead. And the A's had two outs in the ninth, when Rosales stepped to the plate.

And crushed a homerun.

Which was called a double. And justified later that "there wasn't enough evidence to overturn".

Insert two words for that, there.

The A's would load the bases with two outs for Seth Smith thanks to very patient at-bats by Sogard and Jaso, but Smith would ground out to end the game.

Massive frustration for the A's, who didn't even need a break; just the right call; to avoid a 3-game losing streak to Cleveland with one more to play early tomorrow morning. We'll see you back at 9:00AM.