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You guys. I just…I can't….I don't know.
One of the teams playing for the Division tonight had a lot of everything working for them. All the magic, all of the talent, all of the defense, all of the offense. And, of course, it wasn't your 2014 Oakland Athletics, who have been all but dead since the end of July. Seriously, this game isn't worth the three hours of your holiday weekend that they spent playing it, and it sure wasn't worth the time I spent on this recap.
I've run out of ways to creatively say that the A's suck. I mean, I'm not trying to be negative; really, I'm not, but I don't have anything good to say about tonight's game. Four. Hits. (Five)Four. Hits. (Five)Four. Hits. (Five)
Okay, so there are now 5 hits; Sogard was credited with a bunt single after the game.
It wouldn't have mattered if Jon Lester had thrown a perfect game. I'm serious. It didn't matter how many runs he gave up; this A's offense is abysmal. Terrible. Horrible. Ghastly. Awful. I can't pinpoint the blame; I'm too emotionally spent from caring about this team to even hazard a guess. But on the last holiday I recapped; the Fourth of July, the A's were on top of the world; the best team in baseball, and everyone--including them--knew it. And from that holiday to this one, it's been nothing but one long slide down to second place. Three games behind, to be precise.
How would you like the recap? Let's see. Josh Donaldson doubled in the fourth. Sam Fuld singled in the sixth. Vogt singled in the eighth. Derek Norris singled in the ninth. There were a couple of walks. Maybe a hit by pitch. Sure. Nothing that would result in any runs or anything.
Lester kept the Angels off the board until the fifth, but Aybar opened the inning with a single. And then Iannetta hit a home run. And Coco Crisp brought it back, but just couldn't hang on, and the ball dropped over the fence. For a two run home run. And Coco was broken in the process; he fell down off the wall like he was shot. Normally, we'd be devastated, and I am, I think, but a slow sense of numb has taken the place of sheer panic. It's…nice. Coco was listed as a "strained neck" on the broadcast, but I imagine we'll find out more later.
After an error by Eric Sogard that should have ended the inning, Lester walked in the third run. Obviously, it didn't matter. Pujols would hit a home run to make the score 4-0. Again, it didn't matter.
So unless the A's find their lost offense post-haste, it's going to be a very long month of September. The Angels take a 3-game lead with two to play in the series. The A's need to win Saturday and Sunday just to get back to where they started.
Tomorrow night's game is at 6:05. We'll be right here with all the torture.
