Welp, we knew it had to happen at least once on this West Coast trip. The dreaded "typical" Oakland game. That’s exactly what we had today. Right out of the gate you could just tell it was not going to be a good one for the Sox. Tyson Ross, who has come on for Oakland and done a nice job in place of an injured Dallas Braden, took the mound today for the A's and completely shut the Sox down. There were a few innings we were able to put a few men on base, we just couldn't capitalize. Our hitters just looked bad from the start; their plate approach was off, their at-bats were horrendous, no one could really pick up Ross's short and quick release. It just looked like a lost cause from the get go. Meanwhile the A's caught all the breaks and hit the ball hard. Just like a said, a typical Sox game in Oakland...
The defining moment for me in this game came in the 4th inning. Alexi led off with a walk, followed by an Adam Dunn double, giving the Sox 2nd and 3rd, no outs. A HUGE opportunity to cash in and make Ross work on that mound. What happened next just confirmed even further my dislike for Alexi Ramirez. Paulie, in an attempt to bring one in and move one over, tried hitting the ball the other way, unfortunately his line drive was caught by the first basemen Barton....... who then threw the ball across the diamond, to double off Alexi Ramirez, who for whatever reason was off on contact. Now folks, what is it that you learn in little league about base running when someone hits a line drive with less than 2 outs? YOU FREEZE AND MAKE SURE IT GETS THROUGH!! Good Lord, I couldn’t even believe it, where in the hell does he think he's going on that play? Either way, thank you Alexi, for killing a rally, a potentially huge and game changing inning, and most importantly, minimizing Ross's pitch count! We needed to get him out of there as soon as possible! That inning could have required him to throw a lot more pitches, running up his pitch count (thus knocking him out earlier than the 8th inning...)
I just don't understand where our heads are sometimes on this team. I have seen more errors and stupid mistakes already this year, than I think I ever have in all my years watching baseball. Its no wonder our record is so bad.
Paulie provided the only offense, blasting a 2 run bomb in the 6th.
Here’s another thing... does anyone want to do me a favor and remind Juan Pierre that he’s a leadoff man? Because he needs to start acting like one. He has really been putting together some awful at bats lately. He's not taking as many pitches as he should be, he’s trying to bunt in situations that don't call for it, and most of all, he has been hitting so many fly balls to the outfield! He’s a lead off man for Christ's sake! Hit the ball on the ground! The offense is struggling because he doesn't get on base anymore, we need that jump-start, we need that threat on the base paths to get the offense going. Its been very frustrating watching him hit lately.
Anyway, not to rag on the team too much, just some things I've noticed. But still, the road trip has been a pleasant surprise, you can't win them all (especially on the West Coast). Lets just hope things continue to turn around like they are, so when we come home this week we can really start playing some ball.
Mark Buehrle has never had good luck in Oakland (at all), we have him on the bump tomorrow against a very tough Trevor Cahill. Lets just hope we pull this one out tomorrow, because it would be a HUGE win for this club, capping off a great road trip.
That game is going to be a 3:05 start over on Comcast Sportsnet
We need you Mark, lets hope the offense can get to Cahill early and Buehrle finally finds some success in Oak town.
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