SB Nation User Blog: louismg

Kendry Morales Tatters the A's Bullpen, Undoing Tomko's Bid to Go 3-0

louismg — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:25:59 -0000

Are you kidding me? I got that guy out! And you know we're doomed if you don't call this right! Don't you? Argh!

When Brett Tomko walked off the mound with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the A's had a 6-1 lead, and all signs pointed to his coasting to a calm evening in the dugout while chalking up his third win in as many decisions in Oakland. But the Angels had other ideas, scoring 10 unanswered runs, largely on the back of a huge 5-5 night from Kendry Morales, who posted 2 home runs and 2 doubles as part of his 6 RBI night for the Halos.

The bottom of the 7th started off ugly, when Adam Kennedy made a throwing error to open the inning. And it got worse. Bobby Abreu was called safe after being tagged, while in the air, by Craig Breslow, who was beside himself when the umpire, already unloved by the A's dugout, completely missed the play. With Breslow out, Ziggy came in and rapidly the game got away. A 2-run Guerrero single made it 6-5, and after Rivera singled, the aforementioned Morales hit a three-run shot to make it 8-6 Angels. Aybar tripled and Kendrick, up for the second time in inning, singled him in to make it 9-6. All told, it was a 7-run 7th.

While livid over the first base umpire's blatant miss, following his smugness during a previous argument with Scott Hairston, a single play doesn't usually plate 7 runs. Okay. It never does. The game got away because of sloppy defense that opened the door, and an extremely hittable bullpen, which later included Jay Marshall and Santiago Casilla, who both gave up a run, to make the Angels score a solid 11 runs, and spotting them a 5-run lead.

At this point, with Tomko's sharp start long since forgotten, the A's did what they have often done this season - tease us into thinking there might be a chance, scoring one in the 9th to make it 11-7, and bringing the tying run on deck. But that's as close as we would get.

Unlike some other blogs (Rhymes with "Stale-O's Seven"), we won't be doing a Blame of the Game. What's the point? But any time you give up 10 unanswered runs to your division rival, you deserve to lose. Tomko did all he could, showing the A's that he is a legitimate starter, but there was no stopping Morales tonight, and this game is best forgotten as quickly as possible.

Open Thread: Game 128 - A's at Angels (Cont.)

louismg — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:59:42 -0000

After six full, the A's have scored six full. The Angels, the #1 team in the division, have scored a mere third of that.

Brett Tomko, having reached the 100 pitch mark, was pulled from the game, and Craig Breslow came in, as Geren consulted his "Management by Numbers" playbook and followed the "If pitch count > or = 100, then replace pitcher with Breslow" rule.

But Breslow gave up a near-bomb to Kendry Morales, turning a 6-1 lead to a 6-2 contest. We'll hope that's the end of the nonsense, as the A's bullpen looks to run Tomko's record to 3-0 since joining the A's.

Open Thread: Game 128 - A's at Angels (Cont.)

louismg — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:05:53 -0000

After three full innings, the A's lead 5-1 over the Angels, on the back of a 2-run home run by Scott Hairston, a 2-run single through the infield by Kurt Suzuki, and a sacrifice fly by Mr. Jack Cust. Meanwhile, Brett Tomko gave up his alloted solo home run, and is hoping to keep his streak going as a member of the green and gold.

Open Thread: Game 128 - A's at Angels

louismg — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:28:21 -0000

Sometimes, a small sample size can be a baseball statistician's best friend. So is the case with tonight's A's hurler, Brett Tomko, who in his two starts for the A's after being designated for assignment by the Yankees in July has done everything he could to make his old pinstriped employers look a little silly. Having allowed only a single run over 11 innings, with opponents batting .235, Tomko is sporting a Jeff Gray-like 0.82 ERA, to go along with 9 K's against 3 walks. Before you throw the Small Sample Size Book (TM) at me, just think about how awesome that would be if he could, you know, go a full season with 35 starts with 200 innings? We're talking Cy Young in a landslide!

But the downside of a small sample size is that typically, there is regression to the mean. Looking to help Tomko regress to the mean are the "not quite in Los Angeles" Angels, who have surprisingly lost four of their last five contests and six of their last eight, seeing their lead in the AL West over the Texas Rangers shrink to four games. Looking to turn that around is tonight's batting lineup, which features six players batting over .300 (and one batting .299) - so it's quite possible they are capable of doing so.

The A's lineup, featuring one batter over .280 (Raj), and a first baseman batting .204 (Barton), who replaced a first baseman who was batting .193 (Giambi), will be facing Angels rookie Trevor Bell, who in limited time (small sample size?) has a 9.49 ERA and a 1-1 record, including his last start against the Blue Jays, when he unceremoniously left the game after only an inning and two-thirds, giving up six runs. So who knows what will happen? Practically the only guarantee is that Craig Breslow will probably come in from the bullpen at some point.

Lineup

Oakland Athletics @ Los Angeles Angels

08/28/09 7:05 PM PDT

Oakland Athletics	Los Angeles Angels
Adam Kennedy - 3B	Chone Figgins - 3B
Rajai Davis - CF	Bobby Abreu - RF
Kurt Suzuki - C	Torii Hunter - CF
Jack Cust - DH	Vladimir Guerrero - DH
Scott Hairston - LF	Juan Rivera - LF
Ryan Sweeney - RF	Kendry Morales - 1B
Mark Ellis - 2B	Erick Aybar - SS
Daric Barton - 1B	Howie Kendrick - 2B
Cliff Pennington - SS	Jeff Mathis - C

A's 7-Game Run Ends as Twins Pound Oakland 10-5

louismg — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:13:21 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Santiago Casilla seems surprised at how badly he is pitching here in the 7th inning of tonight's game.

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For what has seemed like a week of dreams, the A's have done little wrong. Their pitching staff, led by newcomer Vin Mazzarro, has been practically untouchable, as the squad has clawed their way back from being deep in last place to ... let's call it only slightly embedded in last place - making the march toward .500 and respectability possible. But tonight, in a game that was honestly closer than the final score, the Twins did what the Orioles and White Sox could not, - finding a way to come out on top.

Starter Brett Anderson did not have his best stuff tonight. As BBG sent me midway through the game, he kept everything up, giving up two singles in the first, and getting in trouble in the second inning, leading to the game's first run. But a key play in the sixth set things in motion Minnesota's way.

After Morneau homered to lead off the inning and make it 2-0 Twins, Kubel singled. With one out, Cuddyer hit what looked like it could be an inning-ending double play to Adam Kennedy, but Kubel stopped in his tracks and stalled Kennedy enough that he was only able to get the force. That small play, not an error, of course, because you can't assume the DP, soon ballooned, following a single and then two razor-thin doubles that just painted the lines to both fields, putting the Twins up 5-0 at the end of the frame.

Santiago Casilla, who relieved Anderson, didn't offer much relief to the A's or their fans, as in the 7th, he walked Mauer to start the inning, gave up a single to Morneau, and then a bomb to Kubel (yes, he of the previous inning's play) to make it 8-0, Twins. A run here and a run there, and pretty soon, it was a 10-0 ball game.

Meanwhile, as all the fun was happening when the Twins were batting, the A's were extremely quiet the first eight innings, posting only two hits and no runs.

It wasn't until the 9th, down by 10 runs that the A's bats woke up. The Twins' Scott Baker did his best Casilla impression, letting three reach base, all of whom later scored. Jesse Crain didn't do much better, letting three more reach base, including one via the error. While not making any big hits, the A's managed to stretch the Twins' bullpen to the point they brought in the closer, Joe Nathan, in a save situation, as Hannahan came to bat for the second time in the inning. Hannahan and Rajai Davis, with the bases loaded, were the only hopes for the A's as they stared hope in the face.

And as you would anticipate, they struck out (both) and the A's fell short. One big inning did not a win make, just like one loss cannot undo the benefits of the seven wins that preceded. Did the A's get outplayed today, for eight full innings? Absolutely. Did they get some bad breaks with balls hit by the Twins that just eked in the line? Sure. But it only counts as one loss, and tomorrow, we play again to possibly start an even longer streak. Game time is 7:05 p.m. locally, from the Coliseum.

Matthew and Sarah debate the Infield Fly rule. (More discussion on FriendFeed)

louismg — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:53:47 -0000

Matthew and Sarah debate the Infield Fly rule.

(More discussion on FriendFeed)

Right Now, Extra Innings Sound Pretty Good! (Rays 6, A's 5)

louismg — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:46:35 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

Braden often wondered if he should throw the ball directly into the A's dugout, would it be more helpful to his cause?

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Split. Split second decisions. Splitting line drives between the fielders. Split series. What could have been a three-game winning streak, a solid close to a difficult road trip, and a pick me up for a team that hasn't had many of those this year fell apart in a few quick minutes in a disastrous bottom of the ninth which followed an agonizing top of the ninth which saw the A's storm out to a 5-3 lead despite more antics of baserunning tomfoolery, as Rajai Davis tried to singlehandedly make us forget about Jack Hannahan.

The A's were behind or tied practically all game, having falling back 2-0 in the second, tying it up in the 4th, falling behind in the 6th, and tying it one last time in the 8th. The momentary 2-run lead in the 9th seemed like a mirage to us run-starved win-hungry fans, and it was. To paraphrase one of the game thread memes, it was the Crystal Pepsi of leads.

Dallas Braden, who pitched like a "solid #2", according to Nico, pitched 7 strong innings of three-run ball, getting the quality start, and flashing the leather when he needed to. But the bullpen, one aspect of the A's that has been strong practically all season, collapsed faster than this week's ballot issues - as Bailey surrended a 2-run home run to tie the game in the final frame, and Ziggy let home the final tally.

Fittingly, the game-winning single bounded into Rajai's glove, and then out, as he stood in shallow center, watching the Rays put an exclamation point on their victory. And like that, the game was complete, and the A's tempting us with their promise was all hollow, for naught. The Crystal Pepsi of promise.

Open Thread: Game 38 - A's at Rays (cont.)

louismg — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:58:59 -0000

9th Inning drama thread (to be open for potential extras, of course)...

The A's, having never led in the game, are now knotted at 3-3 with the Rays, following an RBI single from Orlando Cabrera that plated Bobby Crosby. Hannahan, unclear what to do in his rare appearance on the bases, was unable to extend the lead to 4-3, so we head to the 9th frame with the game up for grabs.

Braden, though he pitched well, has left the game, and will gather a much-desired no-decision.

Open Thread: Game 38 - A's at Rays (cont.)

louismg — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:54:05 -0000

After five full innings, including a thunderstorm-related power outage, the A's and Rays are deadlocked at 2. Highlights thus far have included Braden's Ryan Sweeney impression to snag a failed bunt attempt, an RBI single by Adam Kennedy, and a sac fly by the aforementioned Sweeney. Despite the tie, Garza is racking up the K's, with 7, and has claimed Hannahan, Suzuki and Cust twice each.

Should the A's capture today's game, it will make for the season's first three-game win streak. Go A's!

Open Thread: Game 38 - A's at Rays

louismg — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:49:46 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP

Dallas Braden has been feeling the pain of his last three starts.

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There's something pure about weekday baseball. And there's something refreshing about knowing the A's have put up a crooked number, not just in a single inning (or game, mind you), but in terms of the consecutive wins column. It's a rarity this year, as the team, as you know, has more than its fair share of disappointments. Yesterday, too, could have been slotted in that disappointment column, had it not been for the otherworldly levitating leapitude of one Ryan Sweeney who snatched victory from the jaws of what looked like an inevitable late-innings collapse on the part of Oakland.

But baseball is one game at a time, one day at a time, or so the platitudes tell me, which leads to this afternoon's matchup, featuring two pitchers going in opposite directions. The A's will post southpaw Dallas Braden, with his 3-5 record (including three straight losses), against the Rays' Matt Garza, who is 3-0 in his last four decisions, sporting a 4-2 record. Braden, who surprised us all by recovering from his being nailed by a line drive in the first inning during his start on May 10th, leads the team not just in fortitude, but ERA, wins and innings pitched.

As you may have already heard, lefty reliever Craig Breslow, acquired from the Twins, has joined the A's on their roster. To make room, OF Aaron Cunningham is headed down to Sacramento. On the pre-game show, Geren intimated Nomar could rejoin the club tomorrow, at which point a pitcher would likely be sent down.

We'll bring you the purity of weekday baseball from the decidedly unpure Tropicana Field, starting at 1:08 Pacific.

Lineup

Oakland Athletics @ Tampa Bay Rays

05/21/09 1:08 PM PDT

Oakland Athletics	Tampa Bay Rays
Orlando Cabrera - SS	B.J. Upton - CF
Kurt Suzuki - C	Carl Crawford - LF
Jack Cust - RF	Evan Longoria - 3B
Matt Holliday - LF	Carlos Pena - 1B
Jason Giambi - DH	Jason Bartlett - SS
Adam Kennedy - 2B	Willy Aybar - DH
Ryan Sweeney - CF	Akinori Iwamura - 2B
Bobby Crosby - 1B	Gabe Kapler - RF
Jack Hannahan - 3B	Dioner Navarro - C