The A's beat Tim Wakefield and their second knuckleballer in a week (Steve Sparks of Detroit last week).
Miguel Tejada; Angry Greenskeeper
The seemingly bad news-that was actually good news was Miggi lost his hitting streak at 24 games. Miggi has been talking to himself or some entity around the plate lately. Also, it seems there were some uneven pieces of sod around the plate but Miggi was able to pound them back into place with his bat. Miggi had been pressing all weekend and it's good that the streak ended so he can start a new streak. Miggi looks most comfortable at the plate when his swings are not savage cuts in the wind. His swing is solid when he looks to make contact and he keeps his hands in and back enough to turn on inside pitches, even with two strikes.
Long, Strange Trip
Terrence Long continued his torrid pace to not drive in any runs or be productive at the plate in the least bit. Long plate work last night:
OAKLAND 3RD: O Saenz popped out to first. T Long popped out to shortstop.R Hernandez popped out to third.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) OAKLAND 0, BOSTON 1.OAKLAND 5TH: J Dye hit by pitch. O Saenz walked, J Dye to second. T Long struck out swinging. R Hernandez homered to right, J Dye and O Saenz scored. M Ellis lined out to center. R Durham walked. M Tejada lined out to left.(3 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) OAKLAND 3, BOSTON 1.OAKLAND 6TH: D Justice grounded out to second. E Chavez flied out to center. J Dye singled to left. O Saenz homered to left, J Dye scored. T Long grounded out to shortstop.(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) OAKLAND 5, BOSTON 1.OAKLAND 7TH: C Haney relieved T Wakefield. R Hernandez singled to center. M Ellis walked, R Hernandez to second. R Durham walked, R Hernandez to third, M Ellis to second. F Castillo relieved C Haney. M Tejada fouled out to first. D Justice grounded out to third, R Hernandez scored, M Ellis to third, R Durham to second. E Chavez intentionally walked. J Dye walked, M Ellis scored, R Durham to third, E Chavez to second. O Saenz hit by pitch, R Durham scored, E Chavez to third, J Dye to second. E Byrnes ran for O Saenz. T Long grounded out to pitcher.(3 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) OAKLAND 8, BOSTON 1.OAKLAND 9TH: U Urbina relieved F Castillo. E Chavez flied out to right. J Dye struck out swinging. E Byrnes tripled to deep center. T Long lined out to second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) OAKLAND 9, BOSTON 1.
That's 0 for 5, stranding seven base runners-four in scoring position. Yah, Wakefield is a knuckleballer, but Long only saw him three times.
If you look at the outs, and I know this is only one game, it looks like all I have to do is pitch Terrence with hard stuff inside and softer breaking stuff away. He's going to try and pull everything. If he's late it will pop up to the left side on hard stuff and he'll ground out to the right side on breaking stuff away. That's what a eight or nine hitter looks like. Not a lead-off hitter, not an RBI guy and not even a big leaguer.
David Justice and John Mabry have done an excellent job of going the other way with pitches and Chavy's career is going the other way with outside pitches. Terrence, though, seems uncoachable at this point and will continue to be a liability at the plate and in the field.
Mulder Not Sharp
Mark Mulder was not sharp, thowing 114 pitches in six innings and walking four. Still, he battled for six and got the game to the pen with a five run lead. That's a good effort from a quality pitcher on a bad day. That's, dare I say it, "championship stuff". Sorry, it's an old line from a former coach.
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