April 19-22 vs. OAKLAND
We always seem to have these four-game sets against Oakland....Off to another strong start, the A's are hitting (3rd in runs scored) and pitching (4th), and fielding (2nd). Their stars are leading the way, with Vinny Vargas hitting .465, Pat Slind .385. Edgar Maldonado--we'll see him in game one--is sporting a dandy 1.29 ERA, and Ricky Hose has a 2.21 with a 4:1 K:BB ratio. I'll be happy with a split series, honestly.
#13: WIN 7-4 ... good start! We light up Maldonado with three in the 1st and then three more in the 7th...Brock pitches poorly for the first time this year
#14: LOSS 6-11 ... we score five in the 1st but Piccirillo bombs out again, and our pen also gives up four runs late
#15: WIN 5-1 ... Collins' 3-run shot in the 4th wins it, and Jones goes 7 strong innings (4 H, 1 R, 10 K) for the win
#16: LOSS 2-9 ... the Battle of the Aces does not end well, as Clark gets the loss (6 runners, 5 runs, meh) and Hose, um, hoses us
I didn't literally mean I wanted to go .500, now did I? Plus we got really hammered in our two losses. Two more series this month, and it'll be time to assess the lineup and make some tweaks. We go back on the road now after that four-game stand. Lots of frequent flyer miles for us, it seems. ELSEWHERE...Pittsburgh just keeps on trucking, and is now 13-4. They've hit 35 HR and scored 107 times. If they can stay healthy and keep their thin rotation from imploding, how will they not win at least 110 games?...the Giants have rallied for two straight wins over the nearly-as-hapless Padres (3-12 vs 4-10), while the Yankees have also fizzled to a 3-12 start.
April 23-25 @ BOSTON
After a 2037 that saw them win 94 games and come a few outs away from winning the World Series, the Sox have stumbled badly out of the gate, at 5-10. They're not hitting at all, and 2/3 of what should be a potent outfield is playing hurt. The rotation has two starters (who we'll see, of course) with ERA well below 3, in Eddy Llamas and Manny Gomez, and three starters whose combined ERA approaches 10. The bullpen has looked better, but closer Juan Salazar (former Islander) has been pretty bad, blowing saves and sporting a lovely ERA near 7.
#17: WIN 3-2 ... Casillas (8 IP, 9 H) isn't great, but holds the Sox to 2 runs, and Dunklee parks one in the 8th for the win
#18: LOSS 0-6 ... Manny Gomez shuts us down...Brock goes well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R) but the pen implodes, not that it mattered really
#19: LOSS 2-7 ... ugly, really ugly...Groff hits his first HR, so maybe he's coming around...Piccirillo terrible again, pen too
If you don't hit and don't pitch you won't win. Simple game, really. Groff hit his first HR (after 47 last year), but is still mired at .183. Dunklee now has 7 HR and is carrying the offense, with help from Collins and Mullen. The bullpen has looked ragged these last couple of series, and Bobby Piccirillo may be headed off to AAA after this last start. RF Wiggins got hurt diving for a ball and his diagnosis is pending. ELSEWHERE...Cleveland's Chance Muller (an original Islander) tossed a one-hitter vs the Mariners. He's pitched well since leaving us, and if the Indians are struggling in July (and if our pitching needs it) he's a potential deadline acquisition...We're 11-8, 1.5 behind Oakland and 1 behing the surging Mariners. No one in the division has been terrible, although the Angels are now 2-8 in their last ten.
April 26-28 @ BALTIMORE
At 11-6 they lead the East by two games over the Jays and Marlins. They've been in a team hitting slump (last in AVG and HR, 17th in runs scored), but their pitching leads the league. Three of their starting pitchers have ERA under 2, and Raul Trevino (will pitch game 2) has been superb in his four starts: 33.1 IP, 16 H, 4 ER, 28 K, 4 BB. It figures he's in his free agent year contract-wise, and is definitely upping his game for an improvement over his current $4.8M contract. But he's a greedy and selfish pig, that someone will pay $20M per annum for...but it won't be me.
#20: WIN 8-3 ... another strong start for Jones and (finally!) three hits for Groff
#21: LOSS 6-11 ... Mullen and Groff paced the offense, but Ken Clark has lost the plot, giving up 7 R in 3 IP...bullpen meh again
#22: WIN 4-2 ... Casillas is money again (8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 5 K), and somehow we scrape 4 runs out of 8 singles and a double
It wasn't pretty, but I'll always take a 2-1 series win. CF Drayton and RF Wiggins both have dtd injuries, but not enough to DL them, so I'll have to juggle the lineup a bit. Speaking of which, I moved the struggling Adam Groff to leadoff, and he's gone 6-for-12 with 3 HR. I also sent down SP Bobby Piccirillo to get himself straightened out in AAA, and recalled Bobby Little from his rehab stint (he had 3 strong starts and looks ready to go). I am still pleased with rookie Eric Jones, as well as a (mostly) decent start from new #3 guy Steve Brock. But, because there must always be drama in the rotation, ace Ken Clark has been in the toilet recently. He's giving up fewer HR (on pace for "only" 36 over the season), and has struck out 37 in 26.1 IP. But his BABIP is .355, so maybe it's just bad luck. Whatever it is, it needs to stop. ELSEWHERE...Seattle has surged past the A's for first place (14-7 vs 14-9). We're lurking around at 13-9. Likewise the Cubs have surged past the Pirates by a half game, and the Cardinals are at 10-12, the closest they've been to .500 since before the iPhone. The Giants (5-16) and Yankees (4-16) are already circling the drain.