Baby I Got Your Number

I can’t help but wonder if Pablo Sandoval is singing his own version of ODB’s “Baby, I Got Your Money” when facing Justin Verlander.  Sandoval seems to own Verlander, starting with the All-Star Game back in July.  In three at-bats against Verlander, Sandoval has three hits.

Back in July, Justin Verlander had one of the most embarrassing and disappointing starts, allowing five earned runs in the first inning.  One of the big hits in that inning was when Pablo “Panda” Sandoval hit a bases clearing triple.  Needless to say, Verlander was looking to put that behind him, but Panda wasn’t feeling that.  Panda, in the 1st inning welcomed Verlander to San Fran by taking him deep to put the Giants on the board first 1-0.  But he wasn’t done yet.  In his next at-bat, Panda took Verlander deep again to push the Giants lead to 4-0.  Verlander only lasted four innings before the Tigers had to go to the bullpen, but at that point, it was really too little too late as the Giants were already leading the Tigers by five runs.  Plus, if that wasn’t enough, he hit another homer in the fifth inning off relief pitcher, Al Alburquerque, bringing Panda’s RBI total on the night to four, or half of the Giants runs.  Holy cow!

On the flip side, we have Barry Zito.  I love Barry Zito, even if he did leave the A’s to go to San Francisco.  Is he highly overpaid?  Yes, but this year he’s pitching more like a guy that makes that much money.  Tonight, Zito pitched like the Barry Zito of old, the Oakland A’s Barry Zito, throwing 5 2/3 innings and only allowing one run.  And, Zito did something I LOVE.  In the fourth inning, Zito got a hit and knocked in a run.  I love to see pitchers hitting and helping themselves.

It was going to be important for the Giants to come out strong tonight, especially with Justin Verlander on the mound, and they did.  I’m looking forward to seeing how things go tomorrow.  I think that the Giants have a strong chance to win the series after what I saw tonight, and I think they have some major momentum going for them now.

Game Three

Greeting from Oakland! I’m at the game and its nice to see the A’s on top! Hope you’re all watching at home and enjoying the game. Seth Smith is a beast with the home run. Speaking of home runs- did you see Coco Crisp rob Prince Fielder?!?! That was insane!!

Hoping we can hang on to get the win and come back tomorrow!!

Good Loss

The A’s today lost to the Texas Rangers, splitting the vital series.  However, it was a good loss.  Though my dad told me, there is no such thing as a good loss.  This game however, was a very good loss because of what happened in the game.

Josh Reddick has been having an amazing season, up until last week.  Going into last night’s game, Reddick was 0 for his last 28.  Looking at the A’s record while Reddick was putting up goose eggs shows just how important he is to the team.  Last night, he started to show signs that his bat was coming around, and today, it was back.  Reddick hit two home runs today, bringing his season total to 31.  So, even though the A’s lost today, it was a good loss knowing that Reddick’s bat is back.

With Reddick finally looking comfortable in the batters box, and with his swing back, that is very good news for the A’s as they are in must win territory if they want to make the post season.  Right now, the A’s are the second wild card, sitting a game behind the Orioles, and have a two game lead over the Angels.  This weekend, the A’s take on the Mariners, who have been playing extremely well in the past week here, taking two of three against the Rangers this past weekend, and today’s game against the Angels.  Hard to believe the regular season ends in less than a week!

Watch Out Now….

The Oakland A’s may be the hottest team in baseball right now, but they have some company. The St. Louis Cardinals are quietly sneaking up on everybody and starting to turn things around.

The Cards, with their win tonight, are winners in 7 of their last 8 games moving them eight games over .500 for the first time since May 11. Tonight, they also set a franchise record by hitting a home run in five consecutive innings to start the game. Matt Holiday (1st inning), Lance Berkman (3rd inning), Matt Carpenter (4th inning), and Allen Craig (5th inning) all had solo shots while Yadier Molina (2nd inning) hit a two run shot. The home run by Berkman was significant, in the fact that it was his career 1,200 RBI.

This is the second time in under a week that the Cardinals have hit for records against the Cubs. Sunday, the Cardinals sent 17 batters to the plate in the seventh inning, leading to 12 runs. The Cardinals are one of those teams that struggles, but at the end of the season, always seems to be there- just look at what they did last year!

The Oakland A’s continued with their offensive onslaught tonight, putting up 14 runs against the Baltimore Orioles in a wild win, just days after unloading 16 runs in Toronto. After the A’s jumped out to an early lead, the O’s fought their way back, taking the lead in the bottom of the 8th inning. The A’s, however, refused to go out without a fight, and fight they did, plating 6 runs in the top of the 9th to win the game.

Another team to keep an eye on, the Cincinnati Reds, winners of eight straight. That National League Central is looking to be the division to beat. Three of the six teams are within 1.5 games of the playoffs/wild card which is amazing. How incredible would it be if two divisions sent three teams to the playoffs?

Big trading news today! Zack Greinke was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for three prospects. With the Angels picking up Greinke today, the A’s are going to be facing stiffer competition in their own division, making that extra Wild Card position even more important. The San Francisco Giants traded Triple-A infield Charlie Culberson to the Colorado Rockies for…. MARCO SCUTARO!!! I love Marco and think that he is an amazing player that doesn’t get half of the credit he’s due. Us A’s fan had been hoping to trade for him to bring him back, but the Giants wisely, scooped him up.

Speaking of the Rockies, the manager Jim Tracy and 12 of his players Thursday went to visit some of the victims of the Aurora shooting in the hospital. That’s top-notch right there and that was amazing for them to do that. Players that went included Michael Cuddyer, Matt Belisle, Mike Ekstrom, Todd Helton, Rex Brothers, Christian Friedrich, Jordan Pacheco, Adam Ottavino, Eric Young Jr., Josh Roenicke, Drew Pomeranz and Josh Rutledge.