A’s are swept by the Angels

This was supposed to be a fun, short week.  The A’s have significantly dampened those spirits by being completely outplayed and out-managed by the Angels.  Labor Day came and went and the A’s were smoked by CJ Wilson in game 1.  Not even yesterday’s game day diary (see entry below) and gold jerseys could stop Zack Greinke’s dominant performance in game 2.  Today, A’s fans were subjected to more of the same, as Dan Haren and the Angels bullpen put up another stellar performance. 

In case you didn’t see it already, click here for the video clip from today’s game where McCarthy got hit.  That was downright frightening as the ball careened off of the side of McCarthy’s head and towards third base.  Based on early reports, McCarthy is “OK” and was taken to the hospital more as a precaution vs. anything else.  Hopefully that is the case and he’s able to recover and return next week.  That has to be the scariest thing in baseball. 

Frankly, the A’s looked terrible in this series.  Bob Melvin didn’t push a single, right button.  The lineups, substitutions, relief pitchers, etc. all failed in this series.  The A’s offense struck out approximately 257 times during the three game series.  Note to the skipper: Josh Reddick was on fire in the sixth slot of the lineup.  Let’s move him back, or at the very least, down to fifth.  Please. 

The A’s are now playing catch-up with the AL East teams for the top Wild Card slot and the team doesn’t play again until Friday night.  This might either be the perfect time for an off day to regroup and refresh or the worst time for one, where the team now has to think about the sweep for 48+ hours before hitting the field again.  One added wrinkle – the A’s are scheduled to face Felix Hernandez on Friday night, with AJ Griffin on the mound.  Oh boy. 

Please … Let’s go Oakland!