(Photo: Cheryl of South Side Hit Girl)
Athletics: 7 Jays: 3
This win was just what the A’s and their fans needed. We started the evening finding out that Brandon McCarthy’s start was pushed back to at least Saturday due to an ailing shoulder (the same one that landed him on the DL last season) and that Yoenis Cespedes was scratched from the lineup because of a sore wrist.
The night ended with a win and now the A’s are 2 games over .500 for the first time since May, 17th of last season.
Lines of the Day:
- Jarrod Parker: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 SO. I was hesitant to use Parker as the “line of the day” since he had 5 walks and only 56 of his 105 pitches were strikes, but he got the outs when he needed them and essentially kept the A’s in the game.
- Josh Reddick: 3 AB, 1 H, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB. Reddick hit his 6th home run of the season off of Ricky Romero in the 6th inning and he also walked twice which is pretty unusual for him (coming into today’s game he only had a .25 BB/SO ratio). Honorable mention to Jonny Gomes for also showing plate discipline by going 1-2 and taking 3 walks.
Ugly Line(s) of the Day:
- Grant Balfour: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB. When Balfour came into the 9th inning the game was tied, he allowed a lead off triple to Eric Thames, got Brett Lawrie to ground out, intentionally walked Colby Rasmus, got Omar Vizquel to pop up, but then gave up a single to Kelly Johnson to give the Jays the lead. It ended up being okay in the long run and he was even credited with the win, but this isn’t a team that’s going to always come back and score 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th.
A’s Extras:
- Every single player in the A’s lineup reached base at least once tonight either through a hit or walk.
- As I said earlier, Brandon McCarthy was scratched from today’s start because of a sore shoulder. He will have a bullpen session on Thursday and depending on how that goes, he could start as early as Saturday. Because his start was pushed back Jarrod Parker started today (obviously) and Tyson Ross will be the starting pitcher for the final game of the series.
- Yoenis Cespedes was a late scratch to the lineup because of a sore wrist. Not much is known about his condition right now or when he is expected to be back in the lineup.
