A's Bats Look HOT

Before we begin. He was out. Jerry Meals blew it. Terrible. Horrific. But that's baseball.



I've watched it many many times. It was so close, I totally understand what Meals saw in the 19th inning. However, on that play, where Lugo is dead to rights, almost giving himself up, I think you have to give McKenry the benefit of the doubt. If you are going to have either team win that game, it better be because they earned it, not because you think a player missed a dead to rights tag. In the end, it's an unfortunate ending to a brilliantly played game. Kudos to both teams.

Oh, yes, the A's won too! And they won in style.

These last few games have felt very foreign to Athletics fans. They've been hitting. The A's have averaged 6 runs over their last 8 games. Or, 48 runs in 8 games. It took them previously 18 games to score 48 runs. Before this stretch, they had only scored 6 or more runs 18 times in 95 games. Conversely, the Red Sox over the same span, scored 6 runs or more in 38 games. So why the offensive explosion?

Since the break, the A's top five hitters are:

Cliff Pennington: .500, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Hideki Matsui: .425, 2 HR, 12 RBI
Conor Jackson: .372, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Jemile Weeks: .341, 7 RBI
David DeJesus: .286

Also: Willingham another 2 HR

Before the break: top five averages:

Sizemore: .287
Weeks: .287
Sweeney: .284
Crisp: .267
LaRoche: .247

Yes, stand up and collectively shake your heads. The first half was not too great for Oakland hitting, and I will be the first to say that this second half will not stand as it's started. BUT, it's always really good to see guys hitting.

On his radio show postgame last night, Chris Townsend mentioned that these guys have never stopped playing hard all season long. But they just kept ramming their heads into a wall. Now it seems the constant ramming has paid off, and their heads are through the wall. Maybe this new look team is the way we move off into the future. Maybe.

Trevor Cahill throws off the mound tonight looking to rebound from his outing in New York, but he draws James Shields as his opponent as he tries to clinch the series victory. A sweep would be very very nice. Last time the A's swept a series? June 17-19 vs. the San Francisco Giants. Let's make it happen again.

Go A's!

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That's right, good times are happening.