I guess this could have been a lot worse. The A’s won their series opener with the Angels when Mike Piazza drove in the winning run with a solo shot in the ninth inning. Chad Gaudin threw five solid frames but he didn’t get a decision and also give some props to the pen. Other then Kiko Calero who gave up a run in the seventh, the pen did nice job of shutting down a solid Angels’ lineup. Five A’s had at least two hits and Piazza led the way with three in the 4-3 win.
Then on Friday, the A’s stopped scoring runs. They scored two in a 5-2 loss and that was the most they’d scored in a game over the weekend. In the meantime, a very good start by Joe Kennedy went to waste when Jay Witasick gave up three runs in the seventh inning. Nick Swisher singled home one run and the other run came when Marco Scutaro scored on a wild pitch.
The A’s hit a low on Saturday. John Lackey shut down the bats and held the A’s to a lone run and like Friday, a solid start went to waste. Dan Haren gave up just two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts in seven innings. The lone run came in the third when Jason Kendall singled home Travis Buck.
The A’s scored only two runs yesterday, but it was enough with a solid start by Joe Blanton. He gave up just a single run on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. The pen then held the Angels to just one hit in 3 2/3 shutout innings. Shannon Stewart and Nick Swisher both doubled home runs.
So the A’s stand at 3-4 and they’re two games back of the Angels. So in short, they’re right where they were when the started the series. It doesn’t get any easier though as the White Sox roll into town for a three game series.
