2011 Oakland A's

[enyc718]

A's Pull Out
Close One

Minneapolis,MN- A very cold night in Minnesota made for a good
game between the twins and A's.

The A's got off to an early lead from a 3 run shot by Rajai Davis
scoring Kubel and Dunn. Davis has gotten off to a very slow start
this year batting a low .220.

Justin Morneau connected with a solo shot in the 4th. Then in
the 5th JJ Hardy knocked in a run with a bloop single. Aaron Miles
pulled up limping diving for the ball, he had to come out of the game.
He's listed day to day. Same inning Denard Span hits a line drive
to first and caught by Dunn, and its Dunn with the heads up play
and dives to try to tag out JJ Hardy and the replay showed Hardy
being safe, but the umpire called him out.

It was JJ Hardy who came thru again, this time to tie the game at
3 with a solo shot. This was after Meloan was brought in and he
gets the blown save. He relieved starter Cahill who pitched a solid
6 innings giving up 7 scattered hits, 2ER and 2 walks. Carl Pavano
the starter for the Twins went 5 innings only giving up 4 hits plus
the 3 run shot in the 2nd.

Joe Nathan came in to pitch in the 9th and gave up a single to
Sweeney. Rosales came up next and reached on error setting up
Coco Crisp for the go ahead single to center. Wuertz who pitched
the 8th gets the win.

To make things interesting in the 9th, with Delmon Young on 1st
Span misses a bunt with 2 strikes. Gardenhire furious in the dugout.
Then Beslow who was brought in to pitch hits the O-Dog, now 2nd
and 3rd with Mauer due up. Beslow stays in to face him and gets
Mauer to line drive to 2nd. Next batter Morneau single sharply to
right but Young has to hold up at third. Twins now have bases juiced
with Thome up, and mangaer Dave Magadan has the lefty on lefty
matchup but decides to bring in closer Andrew Bailey for the 1 out
save.

Bailey whose ERA is at 0.00 in 4 games gets Thome to strikeout and
end the game.

Dave Magaden had this to say. "I had the matchup I wanted against
Thome but i felt like this was a job for the closer. I have faith in him
and thats what he's paid to do."

[enyc718]

A's and Twins
Battle Till
15th

Minneapolis,MN- Another extra inning game for the A's, as they
come out losing this one thanks to a Delmon Young single in the 15th.

Perhaps if Dave Magaden had taken out Dallas Braden when his gut
told him to, maybe the results would of been different. At 91 pitches
thru 8 innings Magaden was sensing that his pitcher was tiring.
Only giving up 2 ER and walking none thru 8, Braden gives up a 1 out
triple to JJ Hardy and then Denard Span smashes a 2 run shot to
right field to give the Twins a 4-2 lead.

In the top of the 9th and 1 out Suzuki singles followed by a double
by Jason Kubel which sets up a 2 run scoring double by Rajai Davis
to tie the game. In came Edwar Ramirez to pitch the bottom of
9th and escapes a bases loaded jam by striking out Alexi Casillas.

In the top of 10th Ryan Sweeney leads of by homering to right
barely clearing the wall. Andrew Bailey would come in for the save
but gives up a double by Morneau to score Joe Mauer who got on
2nd by doubling. Joe Mauer was just 1-7, but a timely double
indeed.

Chad Gaudin would end up with the loss thanks to an error by Fox
at SS, Hideki Matsui grounded to Fox but Fox unable to come up
with the ball. Matsui would get bunted over to second, with Delmon
Young up and hits an opposite field single to win it. This was Jake
Fox 2nd error of the game pushing the A's total for the year to 15.

Kevin Slowey got the ND but pitched an effective game giving the
Twins a chance atleast. Slowey went 6 innings, 6H, 2ER, 5K's.

[enyc718]

A's Take Rubber
Match

Minneapolis,MN- Josh Outman hasn't been exactly lights out. But
tonight even with little run support he pitched stellar enough to
earn his first win of the year. Going 7 strong and giving up 6 scattered
hits and 1 ER. Outman held Twins bats in check.

Ryan Sweeney led off the game with a homerun of Pedro Martinez. Martinez was signed in the offseason by the Twins and has pitched
well. Martinez gets his 1st loss of the year. The A's stole 2 bases
and put some hit and runs together against Martinez. "We felt we
should try and run on Pedro with his slow delivery to the plate,
a couple of hit and runs even though we only scored twice, it
was enough for us to get the win." Magaden said. The A's have
stolen 13 bases this year but its clear they want to run more.
"Sweeney, Davis, and Crisp all can run and we will be putting our
speed to use more often." Magaden told reporters.

Rajai Davis made a nice play with a strong throw to the plate
getting JJ Hardy out trying to score on a single.

With Andrew Bailey going three innings the day before, Jonathan
Meloan was brought in to save the game in the 9th. Meloan strikes
out the first 2 and ends it by getting Mauer to hit a pinch hit flyout.

The A's (9-10) head to Motown to take on the Tigers (10-8).

[Heroesandvillains]

Boy, you guys need an off day! Those arms in the pen could use some rest.

[enyc718]

Man I find myself using my bullpen a lot. These extra inning games aren't helping either. I actually have a off day before my next series so hopefully my guys get their stamina back. I might update tonight with some stats and stuff. Don't want to bore with just games.

[bhurst99]

.210? Need to get that batting average up!

[enyc718]

Quote: Originally Posted by bhurst99

.210? Need to get that batting average up!

Yea i know. Thank God that was for that series only. Im at .246 as a team.

[enyc718]

Gio Pitches Gem

Detroit, MI- Gio Gonzalez was mowing them down from the
word go. Just ask everybody on the Tigers lineup except for
Scott Sizemore. Sizemore was the only Tiger with a multi-hit
game. Gio, in such groove was making this night look too easy.
"I've never felt the way I did tonight. I felt dominant and
unhittable. I ran into some trouble in the 7th but the bullpen
came in and did what they had to do." Gio had command of all
pitches tonight. With a little help from Adam Dunn who belted
a 3 run dinger in the top of the first. That was all the runs the
A's would need.

Dontrelle Willis was the total opposite. No command in the 1st,
let the A's bat around. Willis went 5 innings 5H, 3ER, 2K's. Not
a bad line considering his 6.75 ERA. He falls to 1-3 .

The A's bullpen is making their money this season. Bailey comes
in to pitch the 9th to get his 5th save. Still posting an ERA of 0.00.

Game 2 will feature the A's Brett Anderson (3-1) against Armando
Galarraga (1-0)