At this point, Ken Macha needs someone to save him from himself. Tripping up every so often is unavoidable. Shooting yourself in the foot, while your foot is in your mouth is another story.

Macha has a lot of questions to answer regarding last night's 7-5 loss in which the Rangers scored 7 unanswered runs, 5 in the bottom of the 8th inning.

• Why is Ramon Castro still on the 25 man roster if he hasn't started a game in three weeks and only came in as a late inning mop up man during the 14-5 thrashing of the Mariners on Monday night? Isn't that a roster spot that should go to a player who can help you?




• With the news of Jason Giambi's tumor floating around, you have to wonder if Eric Chavez was prepared to play Friday night (it is widely known that Chavez and other players are close with Giambi). 0-5 with 16 pitches seen. Chavez swung at a 3-0 pitch in the 4th. That's right, he swung at a 3-0 pitch. The only at-bat at which he got a 2-ball count and he swung at a 3-0 count. The A's have 93 plate appearances with 3-0 counts in 2004. In 91 of those 93 plate appearances 3-0 counts have led to walks on the next pitch. Only twice has a 3-0 pitch turned into an out, both by Eric Chavez.




• What exactly are you doing to Bobby Kielty? Have you completely destroyed this lad? In the 4th inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out Kielty struck out on three pitches. In the 8th inning, after Bobby Crosby walked, Macha had Kielty square around to bunt on the 1st pitch. And the 2nd pitch. Kielty ended up striking out on three pitches. Again.




• Who the hell plays for a single run in Texas, anyway? Especially in the 8th inning?




• Justin Lehr had labored through 22 pitches in the 7th inning. So after a routine groundball to short, Lehr gave up a homerun to Mark Teixierra to make it 4-3. Then a Gary Matthews, JR. single to put bring the go ahead run to the plate with less than two outs. Macha made the logical move to get Chad Bradford. Bradford came in and got behind 1-0. After a throw over to first the 2-0 pitch proved monumental. Matthews, Jr. broke for second base and stopped mid way. Crosby took the throw at second and threw the ball wide to Hatteberg at 1st base. Had the throw been near the bag, Matthews, Jr. would have been out.




• Still in the 8th; after Eric Young grounded out, Mathews, Jr. was at 2nd base with 2 outs. Inexplicably, Macha had Bradford intentionally walk perennial hitting super star David Dellucci. After Bradford was ahead in the count 0-1, he fell to 1-1 and then 2-1. So, Macha, sage of the diamond he is, had Bradford walk Dellucci. This broke a string of 17 consecutive batters faced that Bradford had gotten out - and Macha just threw Bradford's ability to the wind and relied on his 'hunch'. Bradford promptly hit pinch-hitter Kevin Mench with a pitch on the foot to load the bases.




• With the bases loaded, and Bradford have already had one out on the base paths turn into a lengthy 2-0 pitch, Macha didn't have Curt Young go out and talk to Bradford. He didn't send catcher Damian Miller to talk to Bradford. He didn't send a carrier pigeon or even a candy-gram. He didn't have Ricardo Rincon ready to face left-hand hitting Laynce Nix. Why? Isn't Rincon's job to get out left-handers in this situation?

With Justin Duchscherer out for at least a day due to a back thing and Jim Mecir out because he is Jim Mecir (it looked like he was motioning that he rolled his knee or ankle on Thursday night while out on the mound) the A's have backed themselves into a corner with their pitching decisions. By taking Saarloos out early Thursday night and having Harden on a short leash Friday night the game came down to Ken Macha's ability to manage the bullpen.

Want to hear Macha's excuse?

""He was my last pitcher. I didn't want to use him then. And he wouldn't have seen left-handers, anyway."

Who are we worried about? Brian Jordan? Herbert Perry? Cringe at the thought. Plus, Perry hasn't played in two weeks and most likely would not have been available to pinch hit, anyway - and how effective he would have been only furthers the decision making process to go to a left-hander.

Neither have tremendous splits against left-handers worth making a switch for. Further, by bringing in a pinch-hitter for Nix, it handcuffs the Rangers outfield defense if Kevin Mench has to play in the field or Brian Jordan has to play center rather than Nix.

Texas Rangers vs LHP

NAME	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	BB	SO
Herbert Perry	.260	.352	.455	.806	77	10	20	1	1	4	35	14	9	12
Laynce Nix	.212	.257	.364	.621	33	5	7	0	1	1	12	5	1	11
Brian Jordan	.107	.194	.179	.372	28	4	3	2	0	0	5	2	3	3
David Dellucci	.143	.269	.143	.412	21	2	3	0	0	0	3	2	3	5

If you are Ken Macha and you bring in Ricardo Rincon, Buck Showalter goes to Brian Jordan. Rincon gets a strike out or a pop out and the A's got to the 9th with a 4-3 lead. That being said, Showalter may just stay with Nix for the defensive reasoning and Rincon gets Nix to waive at a few pitches and the A's get out of it.

Instead, Bradford gives up 2 RBI on a single to Nix.

Texas Rangers vs Ricardo Rincon

Opposing hitter	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
Hank Blalock	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Eric Young	5	.200	.333	.200	.533	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Rusty Greer	5	.400	.500	.600	1.100	2	1	0	0	0	1	1
Herbert Perry	3	.333	.333	.333	.667	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gary Matthews Jr.	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Michael Young	3	.333	.333	.333	.667	1	0	0	0	1	0	1
Mark Teixeira	3	.333	.333	.667	1.000	1	1	0	0	0	0	1
Kevin Mench	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Brian Jordan	2	.500	.500	2.000	2.500	1	0	0	1	2	0	0
Laynce Nix	2	.500	.500	.500	1.000	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alfonso Soriano	1	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	37	.243	.282	.378	.667	9	2	0	1	3	2	7

Does Macha come out and make a pitching change? Does Curt Young come out and chat with Bradford? Does Miller come out and smack Chad on the backside and tell him to limit the damage?

No.

Bradford gives up another two runs on a Michael Young single on the very next pitch.

The A's not only blew a six game winning streak and had a chance to put the Rangers to bed for the rest of the year - they put the rest of the series in doubt for Bradford and Lehr. Now the A's have to make a move to the minor leagues if they are to ship Kirk Saarloos to keep him on a regular starting schedule. If they are going to bump Saarloos down, why wait? In all practicality the A's are waiting for Tim Hudson's start in Sacramento to make sure everything goes well before making the move to bring Hudson back, and send Saarloos down.

Which goes back to the original question? What the hell is Ramon Castro doing on the roster if they need another pitcher in the pen.



OAKLAND 1ST

Sam Narron pitches to Mark Kotsay


Sam Narron pitches to Eric Byrnes (1 out; nobody on)
Pitch 1: in play
E Byrnes homered to right.


Oakland 1, Texas 0

OAKLAND 2ND

Sam Narron pitches to Marco Scutaro (2 outs; Crosby on 2nd)
Pitch 1: strike 1 (looking)
Pitch 2: ball 1
Pitch 3: strike 2 (foul)
Pitch 4: foul
Pitch 5: foul
Pitch 6: ball 2
Pitch 7: foul
Pitch 8: ball 3
Pitch 9: ball 4
M Scutaro walked.
So, Skootch has a good at-bat and extends the inning. Does Kotsay try and work the coutn and get on base?
Sam Narron pitches to Mark Kotsay (2 outs; Crosby on 2nd, Scutaro on 1st)
Pitch 1: in play
M Kotsay popped out to shortstop.


0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors
Oakland 1, Texas 0

OAKLAND 3RD

Sam Narron pitches to Eric Byrnes (0 out; nobody on)
Pitch 1: in play
E Byrnes homered to left.


Sam Narron pitches to Scott Hatteberg (1 out; nobody on)
S Hatteberg singled to right.


Sam Narron pitches to Erubiel Durazo
Pitch 1: in play
E Durazo homered to right center, S Hatteberg scored.


Sam Narron pitches to Bobby Crosby
B Crosby walked.


Sam Narron pitches to Bobby Kielty (2 out; Crosby on 1st)
B Kielty walked, B Crosby to 2nd.
J Benoit relieved S Narron.


Joaquin Benoit pitches to Marco Scutaro (2 out; Crosby on 2nd, Kielty on 1st)
Pitch 5: in play
M Scutaro flied out to center.

Skootch went out of the strike zone on this swing and it cost the A's dearly
3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors
Oakland 4, Texas 0

OAKLAND 4TH

Joaquin Benoit pitches to Eric Byrnes
Pitch 1: in play
E Byrnes hit by pitch.


BALL GAME


This is where the A's lost the game. This could be the key At-Bat of the 2004 season. Byrnes was hit with the first pitch, and not a thing was done about it. The pitch wasn't even close, it was up and becasue everyone knows the A's don't retaliate - nothing was going to be done. The A's failed to score for the rest of the game and failed to be a 1st place team in the process.

OAKLAND 5TH

Joaquin Benoit pitches to Erubiel Durazo (1 out; nobody on)
Pitch 1: in play
E Durazo singled to right.


Joaquin Benoit pitches to Bobby Crosby
B Crosby doubled to left, E Durazo to 3rd.


Joaquin Benoit pitches to Bobby Kielty (1 out; Durazo on 3rd, Crosby on 2nd)
Pitch 1: strike 1 (swinging)
Pitch 2: strike 2 (looking)
Pitch 3: strike 3 (swinging)
B Kielty struck out swinging.


Joaquin Benoit pitches to Marco Scutaro (2 out; Durazo on 3rd, Crosby on 2nd)
Pitch 1: ball 1
Pitch 2: ball 2
Pitch 3: in play
M Scutaro fouled out to first.
This pitch was over Skottch's head and killed another chance to score
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors
Oakland 4, Texas 0

TEXAS 5TH

Rich Harden pitches to Gerald Laird (1 out; nobody on)
G Laird walked.


Rich Harden pitches to Laynce Nix
Pitch 2: in play
L Nix grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, G Laird out at second.


Rich Harden pitches to Michael Young
M Young singled to right center, L Nix to third.


Rich Harden pitches to Hank Blalock
Pitch 5: in play
H Blalock singled to center, L Nix scored, M Young to third.


2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors
Oakland 4, Texas 2

OAKLAND 8TH

F Francisco relieved J Benoit. (0 out; nobody on)
B Crosby walked.


Frank Francisco pitches to Bobby Kielty
Pitch 1: strike 1 (bunted foul)
Pitch 2: strike 2 (bunted foul)
Pitch 3: strike 3 (swinging)
B Kielty struck out swinging.


Frank Francisco pitches to Marco Scutaro
Pitch 1: in play
M Scutaro grounded out to second, B Crosby to second.


Frank Francisco pitches to Mark Kotsay
Pitch 6: in play
M Kotsay grounded out to second.

Bobby Crosby was on base four times last night and failed to score a single run.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors
Oakland 4, Texas 2

TEXAS 8TH

Justin Lehr pitches to Mark Teixeira
Pitch 5: in play
M Teixeira homered to right.


Justin Lehr pitches to Gary Matthews Jr. (1 out; nobody on)
Pitch 4: in play
G Matthews Jr singled to right.
C Bradford relieved J Lehr.


Chad Bradford pitches to Eric Young (1 out; G Matthews on 1st)
Pitch 3: in play
E Young grounded out to third, G Matthews Jr to 2nd.


Chad Bradford pitches to David Dellucci (1 out; G Matthews on 1st)
Pitch 1: strike 1 (looking)
Pitch 2: ball 1
Pitch 3: ball 2
Pitch 4: ball 3 (intentional ball)
Pitch 5: ball 4 (intentional ball)
D Dellucci intentionally walked.
K Mench hit for G Laird.
Chad Bradford pitches to Kevin Mench (1 out; G Matthews on 3rd, D Dellucci on 1st)
Pitch 1: in play
K Mench hit by pitch, G Matthews Jr to third, D Dellucci to second.


Chad Bradford pitches to Laynce Nix (1 out; G Matthews on 3rd, D Dellucci on 2nd, Mench on 1st)
Pitch 5: in play
L Nix singled to right, G Matthews Jr and D Dellucci scored, K Mench to third, L Nix to second advancing on throw.


Chad Bradford pitches to Michael Young (1 out; K Mench on 3rd, L Nix on 2nd)
Pitch 1: in play
M Young singled to left, K Mench and L Nix scored, M Young to second advancing on throw.


5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors
Oakland 4, Texas 7