On a beautiful sunny and warm Bay Area afternoon, the Green and Gold outdid themselves on Wednesday by knocking the Rangers around in the O.Co, 11-4. The key frame came in the bottom of the sixth when the A's would tally 6 runs. The pivotal blows in that inning were struck from re-born again Daric Barton and Josh Donaldson. Barton's blast to right center gave the A's a 5-2 lead, and they never looked back! Donaldson would later crush one to deep left field, and it was game set match! Coco Crisp continues to ignite the offense as he jumped on the dog pile adding a two-run homer in the eight, his 18th of the season. Brandon Moss started the A's scoring in the first when he crushed a Yu Darvish offering well into the "Zanies" in the right field bleachers. Much like last season, the A's are finding their collective power stroke's here in the second half of the season. The A's have won an impressive 8 of their last 10 games, and that includes beating Detroit's Justin Verlander, Tampa Bay's David Price, and the Rangers ace Yu Darvish. Speaking of pitching, Jarrod Parker continues to step up with quality efforts in important games--heck any game! The A's have not lost game in Parker's last 18 starts--let's hope that continues for another dozen starts or so. Good times in A's land, good times!
Brett Anderson finished up yesterday pitching the final 3 innings, earning his second save. Anderson's role will be prominent somewhere sometime in the near future. The A's are steadily working the bearded lefty into important situations, while at the same time increasing his innings pitched on the mound. The results of Sonny Gray and Bartolo Colon's next starts, might provide the best indication of where eventually Anderson will end up. Gray pitches tonight versus the Astros, while Colon will pitch on Sunday. Colon pitched well enough on Tuesday in the loss Rangers, however his velocity clearly was down from earlier in the season. Ironically however, it was two sharp comebackers that Colon couldn't quite corral, that would eventually knock out Colon and the A's on Tuesday. (Allow me to dream for a moment, but I can envision Anderson's role being primarily in the pen--the perhaps, in the League Championship Series and World Series, Anderson sliding back to a starter as well!) The fact that Grant Balfour did not pitch yesterday, ideally saving or replenishing some bullets in his right arm, another extremely positive development from the afternoon's events in the O.Co yesterday.
It get's better. This season Yu clearly has struggled against the A's-I believe his inner Yu longs to be an Athletic! So when Mr. Personality and A's killer catcher A. J. Pierzynski came to say a few words to Yo on the mound, after a few words, Yu essentially waved the loveable catcher back to the plate! Classic. I wondered what all of A.J.'s teammates back in Minnesota, and San Francisco, and Chicago, and now Texas truly think of Mr. P? He is one heck of a player, but their appears to be some baggage there! On Monday, Ranger's manager Ron Washington was seen getting into his pitcher's dish. Love that Texas style implosion going down! Mark the calendar, A's in Texas next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The joint shall be jumping!
The A's may not be winning because of Daric Barton and Kurt Suzuki, but they are sure are winning WITH them. As compared to previous stints with the A's, now there roles are better suited for success. Both of the these guys are pieces to a puzzle, and their skill sets match with hitting in the bottom of the order. The A's have gone 8-2 with Reddick out, and when it comes time to pick a 25 man playoff roster, BoMel is going to have some interesting choices. We can save that topic for a later day!
23 games to go, all tied up. Plan B of making the playoffs looking pretty good at this point. So, the focus in simple--no letdowns! Houston is in Oaktown tonight, and with the Rangers not playing, the A's could be in first place all by their lonesomes at the end of the evening.
Flipping the Remote:
*NFL people, tonight is the Ravens and Broncos. Raider fans, have you all gone out and purchased a Terrelle Pryor jersey and dusted off your DMac jersey? (Hopefully the injury proof one?) The Raiders could surprise some people, and could very well be the 2012 A's? I am just saying. Niner fans, tired of hearing about the Seahawks? How about the Packers saying the may hit the QB a little on the option reads. The Packers and Niners have become a nice little rivalry haven't they? Notre Dame and Michigan this weekend in the Big House--that is a game that hovers on my Bucket List. How about the Open, Nadal, Djokovich, and Murry, the Best Big 3 of All Time? Ditto with Serena? Double check the batteries in the remote people!
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