Congratulations Zito

SEA 2, OAK 3

Barry Zito got his first win of the 2005 season today with the A's beating the M's by one run without resorting to extra innings. The outing was good, all in all but Zito had a few epic at-bats too many in which a batter would just foul back pitch after pitch. If this was back in 2002, he'd just drop the hammer, but since it's not a) reliably called for strikes and b) reliable swung at, the curve is not his out pitch in a full count situation like that. He did well, but we must realize that since he doesn't have that "out pitch" he's not going to much deeper than he did today, seven innings, which is enough.

On a more solemn note I sure hope Nick Swisher is OK. He was taken out of the game in the second when he crashed into the outfield fence.

The Mariners opened the scoring in the second inning, and it was particularly painful for the A's. Rookie right fielder Nick Swisher crashed into the wall while trying to catch Jeremy Reed's leadoff triple and was taken to a local hospital for X-rays and a CT scan on his right clavicle.

-Mychael Urban, MLB.com 5/1/05

I will do my best to keep abreast of this situation. Get well soon, Swish.