Game Day Diary - Oakland @ Baltimore, 7/28/12

We’re live again from the exact same location as last night, as I have absolutely nothing better to do on this fine Saturday evening.  The wife remains on the DL and I feel like I might be heading there too.  Not good times.  At the same time, NBC is replaying Olympic events that have already happened and are leaving a lot to be desired with their coverage. 

For those taking the time to read these updates please let me know what you think.  If you like them, correct any errors I might make, etc.  Any and all feedback is appreciated.  I want to come up with some type of regular frequency for these game day diaries for August and September.  Should I drop in a picture of who I would vote for as ‘player of the game’ vs. just using the A’s starting pitcher on that night? 

7:08pm US EST – Jemile Weeks is back near the top of the lineup, batting second this evening, which means batters 7-9 in tonight’s lineup will be a combined 1-12 at best.  In the middle of that insult, Weeks breaks up Tommy Hunter’s bid for a no hitter with a single to left field.

7:13 – Just checked Twitter and it looks like Oakland is making some moves with C Kottaras coming over from Milwaukee, but they are waiting for the A’s to make another move (per @Haudricourt).  I fear that Suzuki’s days are essentially done in Oakland.  Damnit.  (By the way, Seth Smith grounded into a double play to end the top of the first.)

7:19 – Markakis breaks up Colon’s no hitter and leads off the bottom of the 1^st with a hit. 

7:25 – Colon walks Davis to put men on first and second.  Colon doesn’t look good right now and his pitch count is already over 20.  Tonight might not be the A’s night. 

7:30 – Colon gets out of it with a fly out.  I really hope this game speeds up.

7:34 – I have no idea how Cespedes didn’t get called out on strikes there … and on the next pitch he swings and misses anyway, so that’s a moot point. 

7:37 – After Carter strikes out it dawned on me how quiet the crowd is this evening in Baltimore.  There are a lot of empty seats tonight as well.  Moss walks during those random thoughts. 

7:40 – Brandon Inge misses a double off the wall by about a foot and strikes out on the next pitch.  Of course he does. 

7:43 – I missed the first out of the bottom of the second getting a “water”.

7:45 – Someone named Quintanella doubled down the right field line, which reminded me that the A’s kept Reddick out of the lineup tonight after last night’s game ending catch and crash into the wall.  Thankfully, he’s apparently OK and should be ready to go tomorrow. 

7:48 – Colon gets out of it again to end the inning and, thankfully, the 2^nd goes by a bit quicker than the 1^st inning. 

7:54 – The bottom of the A’s lineup is living up to the hype mentioned above.  Coco Crisp then gets robbed by the O’s second basemen and we’re into the bottom of the third before 8pm. 

8:03 – Colon sends the O’s down in order for the first time tonight.  Adam Jones looks like a good player, but every time I watch him (when the O’s play the A’s is the only time I watch him actually) it just feels like he’s a guy that doesn’t meet his potential. 

8:08 – After Weeks gets another single to lead off the inning, he steals second and the A’s are in business! 

8:10 – Seth Smith dribbles the ball down the first base line to move Weeks to third and Fosse steals my thunder by calling out that the pitcher flipped the ball with his glove and the first baseman caught it with his bare hand.  It was funny before Fosse ruined it.  OK, maybe it isn’t that funny at all. 

8:13 – It’s Business Time!  Cespedes with a bomb to left field and the A’s go up 2-0.  The crowd gets a little rowdy which I believe means the ball was thrown back into the field.  As an added bonus, the CSN cameras pick up Cespedes yelling as he goes into the dugout tunnel. 

8:16 – Carter and Moss go down quietly to end the top of the 4^th. 

8:21 – The clouds are apparently rolling in and there’s a rain delay in the future.  Let’s get through the 5^th quickly please. 

8:26 – Colon gets out of trouble again leaving runners on 1^st and 2^nd.  Even Colon looked a little surprised at the called third strike.  We’ll take it. 

8:30 – Fill in the blank: Brandon Inge _____ out again.

8:32 – Suzuki doubles and Sogard follows that up with a hit to right field, scoring Suzuki!  A’s go up 3-0 and the bottom of the lineup has already exceeded expectations for the night.  Well done!

8:44 – One more out in the bottom of the 5^th and this game can be deemed official if the rain starts coming down.  Let’s go Bartolo! 

8:47 – Three up, three down for Colon and this game is now through five innings.  Nice!

8:53 – Chris Carter goes deep and the A’s go up 5-0.  Absurd confidence level continues to rise! 

8:59 – I’m running out of jokes, so just note that Inge struck out again.  I would say he’s not taking the trade rumors very well, but this has been going on for weeks. 

9:07 – Colon is in trouble again and this time Melvin’s music is cued and he pulls the hook on Colon’s night.  Nice outing from Colon again.  Norberto is coming in. 

9:12 – Norberto strikes out Quintanilla to end the inning and the O’s remain scoreless!

9:16 – I’m not rooting against the A’s or anything, but the top of the 7^th was perfectly short in length and it is time for the seventh inning refill, I mean stretch. 

9:19 – Inge boots a groundball to third and I think I see Billy Beane running on the field to let Inge know that his talents can be taken to Miami and that Beane will finish the game for him.  Good lord.  To be “fair”, it was going to be tough to get the runner at first, but he’s given an error. 

9:26 – Now Norberto gets into and out of trouble with no runs coming in, with Adam Jones (noted above) grounding out to end the inning.

9:35 – This just in, Cespedes is good.  He triples to right center field, which scores Weeks.  6-0 A’s. 

9:39 – The A’s leave Cespedes stranded on third and we go to the bottom of the 8^th. 

9:49 – Hey, there’s a rumor out there that Cespedes is a five tool player.  Well, he just flashed some leather to end the 8^th inning in style.  Note that he moved to CF to replace Crisp and I don’t see anyone reporting the specifics on Coco yet online.  Please, let’s stay healthy and see this through. 

9:53 – Again, to be fair, Inge gets off the shnide (sp?) with a base hit to left field. 

9:55 – Browsing the Internet as this game continues on and I see that Toronto took care of Detroit tonight, so that helps the A’s out as well with the Wild Card.  The A’s don’t play Detroit until mid-September, so that’s a team that we will have to watch from afar. 

10:00 – Gomes and Weeks strike out and we head to the bottom of the 9^th with the A’s up 6-0.  Don’t blow this.

10:04 – Balfour just threw a beautiful breaking ball and follows it up with a fastball on the outside corner to strike out Teagarden.  That was a nice job of pitching.  (That’s the type of intense analysis you deserve.)

10:06 – It is amazing what little compliments (above) will do.  Balfour just gave up a home run and the shutout is no more.  6-1 A’s.  Let’s get this game over with. 

10:09 – Balfour throws one right down the middle for a called strike three and the A’s win another one!  This is becoming way too much fun!

Let’s go Oakland!!