Top 1
Blackley has a nice 1, 2, 3 inning with a strikeout of Hamilton. This is already better than any of his previous two starts. I’m a little nervous about the high strikes he’s throwing with the temperature at game time being 82 degrees, but we’ll see how things progress as he gets a good lather going.
Bottom 1
Reddick has a shot to make this game very interesting early on, but grounds out to Kinsler to leave two on. You have to think that the A’s are going to need to score early to take the Rangers out of this one. The Rangers will gain confidence the longer this game stays scoreless.
Top 2
Beltre stays hot by leading off the 2nd with a double. Does anyone remember when this guy was terrible with Seattle? Blackley just misses snagging an infield single and that might come back to haunt him. Runners are on first and third and 1 out with Paul Bunyan…err Mike Napoli up to bat. How does this guy always get scorching hot to end a season? WOW…Donaldson makes a great grab of a Napoli line drive and then almost throws it to the Oakland Arena. Moss shows some serious hops to catch that one. Perhaps Beane can orchestrate a Moss for Biedrins deal in the offseason. Soto goes down on strikes to end the inning. Looks like Blackley is fully recovered from last night’s clinch celebration.
Bottom 2
Donaldson weak groundball to Andrus starts the inning. Did that just hit Moss in the face?? Whoa…what…are they saying foul ball? Now that is crazy. Don’t blame him for striking out. Norris ends the inning with a quick K and Harrison looks to be in a groove.
Top 3
With Kinsler on first, Reddick drops a foul off the bat of Andrus. Blackley is unfazed and strikes him out two pitches later. Looks like both pitchers are on early. Well, there goes the 0-0 game as Rosales bobbles the relay from Reddick and Kinsler scores. You had to know that the A’s couldn’t keep Hamilton down for the entire series, but they can’t afford to let Hamilton and Beltre get hot. The inning ends with a Beltre grounder, but the damage has been done. I’m interested to see if the A’s show a little punch in the bottom of the inning. This team has done a great job all year of responding to adversity.
Bottom 3
Well, two groundballs and a strikeout certainly doesn’t qualify as “punch”. The A’s look a little tight through three, but this team has the potential to change everything with one swing of the bat, which means they’re never that far behind.
Top 4
A Josh Donaldson error is not how you want to start an inning. The team is certainly pumped, but they look a little too wound up. The fear going into tonight’s game was that the team might come out flat from partying, but instead they look a little too amped. Perhaps they should have each had a few more brews before going to bed. And, just when it could have gone wrong Blackley induces a double play. Even when Napoli K’s it looks like he’s ready to tear the cover off the ball. Blackley survives what could have been a tough inning.
Bottom 4
The heart of the order will bat for the A’s…and Cespedes grounds out. The A’s do realize they’re allowed to take a pitch – right? Gomes just misses a HR to center, but this crowd is into it on every pitch. They were ready to blow the tarp off the upper deck if it had cleared the wall. Reddick goes down and it seems like the A’s might need to pull off some late inning heroics to pull this one out. A 1-0 deficit is no huge feat to overcome, but it looks like they’ll need to defeat some early inning nerves before they can get something going.
Top 5
Another 1, 2, 3 inning for Blackley. I don’t think anyone was predicting a pitchers’ duel going into this one, but looks like that’s what we’ve got in store.
Bottom 5
Ok, the A’s might have something going as Donaldson singles to center. Time to see if the bottom of the line-up can get something going…and as I type that Moss hits a double on the first pitch – runners now at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Norris comes through with a huge opposite field single and both runners score with a little bobble help from Cruz in right. Rosales grounds into a double play and Harrison has at least momentarily righted the ship. And, Coco has seen 3 pitches and made 3 outs.
Top 6
How will Blackley respond to a lead? Time to focus on the rest of the game like a fan…Blog to follow…
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