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Tonight's game started off on the most ominous of notes; the A's left fielder made a running catch with two on in the first inning and even though all four sets of announcers (A's radio/TV, Angels radio/TV) praised Yoenis Cespedes, Cespedes looked a whole lot like Chris Young out in left. That's because Cespedes was scratched late; as late as possible without actually starting the game. Young replaced him and no one noticed, until the ball was hit to left. Something about a sore wrist.Then the panic started, and never really subsided. The A's played the lousiest of games, with the notable exception of incredible defense by Eric Sogard (who also had two of the A's hits), and one amazing play by Josh Donaldson, following his error, that at the time, saved two runs, but would ultimately be difference between a three run loss, or a five run loss. The A's offense didn't show up to this game. Period. This team may be solidly in first place, as the Rangers lost again, but they sure aren't scoring.
Because I was utterly bored by our reintroduction to baseball tonight and it's a Friday night drinking thread, I had the game thread commenters write the recap tonight, while I listened to Pentatonix perform the Wizard of Ahhhs. Then I watched clips of Major League, which coincidentally, before they got good, played a lot like the A's did tonight. Also, we still hate facing Jered Weaver.
Here's what happened:
Berry Jo: We should write it for you.
pam5981: crowdsourced recap...
Billy Frijoles:that's gonna work great
pam5981: Paragraph 1: WE LEARNED THE SARCHASM FONT.
Berry Jo: Paragraph 2: We swore at the umps and the Angel's players
pam5981 Paragraph 3: Baseballgirl got drunk off whipped cream vodka.
Berry Jo: Paragraph 4: AN Game thread was more entertaining than the game itself
mrod: “Colon should have started this game!!!!!!!”
pam5981: If we give the HR Derby title back, can we haz nice things?
zaniac75 : Still in first place
Tutu-late: The game sucked....so we had a keyboard roundtable.
tc.athletics.91: The A's took an extended leave for the All-Star break. Real baseball will be back in action tomorrow.
drink409: While the A's played ball in Anaheim, the A's offense continued to enjoy the All Star break.
themacgeek: A's Defense decides not to play the first inning?
drink409: While the A's offense skipped class today, a truancy officer caught the A's Defense shortly after the 1st inning & returned them to the game.
Juicy_Couture_39: At the end of the day, they'll still be Slegna.
ResopRock: Now's the time when we load the bases, Yo shows up with hot young woman, small child and lovable scamp of a dog to the game. He gets a bat and hits a grand slam winning it for the A's despite neither scoring more runs than the Angels nor it being a walkoff situation
bta47: DIDN'T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!! DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!DIDN’T GET SHUT OUT!!!!!!!!
And there you have it. The A's had 7 hits. Jaso was picked off first base with the A's best hitter up and two one and somehow wasn't replaced until the eighth inning. The A's threw up a decent teAse in the ninth, knocking Jepson out of the game, and scoring a run, but would finally succumb to Frieri. Sonny Gray threw two nearly perfect innings, and I think that's all anyone really wants to say about the game tonight. But the game threads were fun. Thanks, everyone! And for saving me a two hour each way drive to Anaheim to see one of the A's worst games of the year.
The Angels pull to 10 games behind the A's, and with Texas' loss, the A's lose no ground there. The A's try their hand against crowd-favorite C.J. Wilson tomorrow night. Wilson vs. Dan Straily. See you tomorrow at 6; hopefully with a better game.
