Oakland was on the bats last night, but so was Toronto. The A’s had thirteen hits, compared to the Blue Jays’ twelve. After a four hit, five run second inning which brought the score to 6-1, it looked like Oakland had things in the bag. The Jays, however, didn’t stop fighting and brought the game to a tie in the bottom of the fifth. Luckily for Oakland, Toronto fell apart a bit in the sixth, allowing two runs to score due to a single, two walks, and an error, creating a score of 8-6.
All Oakland has to do at the point is pitch well. This is where Alan Embree comes in. He starts off the eighth inning by giving up a double. I’m sure everyone was very forgiving, thinking, “It’s ok, he’ll get the next guy.” Well, the next guy, Frank Thomas (yes, the former Athletic, with a .303 batting average and over 1500 RBI’s), homered to tie up the game. Embree saw four more batters in the inning, and didn’t pitch in the ninth.
Top of the ninth inning, Suzuki on first, two outs. Ryan Sweeney triples to take the lead and bring the game to 9-8. Huston Street takes care of the bottom of the ninth and the A’s improve their record to 4-4.
While there were some impressive moves in this game, what I think the team lacks is consistency. You can’t rely on a two out triple in the ninth to save the game every time. This team needs to get consistency in the bullpen as well as at the plate in order to be a true powerhouse this season.
