Blogger Sucks

I'm having so much trouble trying to post right now it's obscene. But hey, Blogger's free and I'm to broke to move this someplace else. I guess beggars can't be choosers.

At least the A's are still in First.

OAK 5, BAL 1

Haren did well in his Oakland debut. Although he didn't get the win he pitched realy well striking out six in six innings and getting himself out of a few jams. In the second he was a little bit wild but he managed to get out of a bases loaded jam without allowing a run. How's that for handling pressure.

But the most amazing thing about last night's victory was the A's used the bunt. Let me repeat that, the A's actually bunted in the eighth inning. Please let me quote somebody who actually can describe this better than I can:

Baltimore -- Eric Byrnes isn't asked to bunt much, but the A's worked on that skill so much during the spring that he was bummed out in the eighth inning Thursday when, first, his attempt to put one down went foul, and second, manager Ken Macha took off the bunt sign.

Byrnes blasted the next pitch from Steve Kline over the center-field wall, a three-run homer that broke open a pitching-rich game that had been tied for the previous six innings. So the A's were 5-1 winners over the Orioles, taking the series two games to one, with Danny Haren pitching well in his A's debut.

"When they gave me the bunt sign the first time, I was excited to do it," Byrnes said. "I was actually disappointed when it went foul, I thought I had a pretty good bunt down. We didn't work on that for nothing in spring training. I was a little disappointed he took it off."

Macha said the idea all along was that if Byrnes didn't get the first one down, he'd swing away, because he was likely to get a fastball.

"I knew there was a possibility of Byrnes getting a (batting-practice) fastball, and he did," A's center fielder Mark Kotsay said. "I thought it was a great call by Macha."

Kotsay had reached just before that when the Orioles botched his own sacrifice attempt. Kline fielded the ball and threw to first, where second baseman Brian Roberts was covering, but first baseman Jay Gibbons cut off the throw.

"I couldn't believe it," said Byrnes, who watched from the batter's circle. "(Gibbons) was just caught in between."

-Susan Slusser, SF Chronicle 4/8/05

I sure hope Billy Beane wasn't pissed about the bunting. However he should be glad with Scutaro last year he started almost the entire season and drew only 16 walks. Three games into this season his walk total is...

Three.