A's v. Red Sox Series Recap

So Frank and I both felt that weekly recaps were just to intense, long, and worthless. So here is the first of the reformatted recaps, where we take a look back at the past series.

The A's finished their recent homestand by splitting a pair against the Boston Red Sox. Though Tuesday's game was a complete effort for the A's that had me ready to write some rave reviews, Wednesday as very much a frustrating disappointment in many ways. Here's what happened:

April 19
A's 5 v. Red Sox 0
This was a fun one. The A's manufactured a run early after Crisp singled, stole second, and then moved around on two groundouts. After that it was a whole lot of nothing, until the 8th, when the A's bats woke up against the Red Sox bullpen. Matsui delivered a 2 run double for the big knock of the game. Brett Anderson was brilliant, striking out 8 in 8 innings. Breslow still does not look himself, as he struggled in the 9th, but Fuentes did his job closing the door. All in all, a complete victory secured at least a .500 homestand.

April 20
A's 3 v. Red Sox 5
As fun as Tuesday was, this was even more frustrating. Gio Gonzalez broke the streak of quality Oakland starts, giving up home runs to Youkilis and Lowrie. The defense wasn't terrible, Ellis did make an error, but they also turned 3 double plays. What hurt was the hitting. Taylor Buchholz and the Red Sox staff stranded 15 baserunners on the afternoon. After a leadoff home run from Coco Crisp, the A's couldn't score anyone until getting runs in the 8th and 9th. The bullpen was ok after Blevins gave up yet another home run to Drew. One more single in the 7th or 8th would have totally changed this game, but the A's popped out instead.

Player of the Series
I'll give out two. Coco Crisp and Brett Anderson. Crisp went 3-9 with 2 rbi, 2 runs, a home run, and a stolen base. Nice line.

Anderson was just nasty.... see highlights here:
LINK

The take-away
The games concluded a 3-3 homestand, and the A's now sit at 9-9. It's not bad, it's not great. The pitching is still fantastic. Before Wednesday, the starters' ERA on the homestand was under 0.30. The hitting has to happen. Wednesday's 15 stranded runners hurts, as does the 3-15 batting w/RISP. Still, it's good to get a win against the Sox, and too bad they didn't get both. Also, attention Oakland fans: PLEASE GO TO GAMES. I'm pretty sure it was about 70/30 in favor of Sox fans yesterday. It was sad.

Play of the Series
David DeJesus slides to make the catch

Song of the Series
Heart Of Gold - Neil Young



Like Neil can't find the right harmonica, and then can't find that heart, the A's are still searching for that offense.

On Deck
The A's begin a 4 game set in Seattle tonight when McCarthy squares off against King Felix Hernandez. Hernandez shut down the A's offense in the opener, except for a 2 run blast from Josh Willingham. Since, however, he has been struggling a bit. Hopefully the A's offense doesn't snap him back into Cy Young form.