The Oakland Series, August 3-5

[blangtang]

Rondon was sent back down.

got it:thumbsup1:

[25 Nuggets]

Without Zobrist and possibly Reddick in the lineup, the Athletics look toothless. I hope our pitchers dominate them in all three games with our defense behind them.

Game one, check.

[Frobby]

We must have a very different definition of "looking good". I know Wilson's ERA suggests he has been good but a 4.90 xFIP and a 2.12 K/9 (4 K in 17 IP) don't look good to me. He's looked lucky, and likely to get hit around soon.

So, was Wilson "looking good" last night? I went to sleep after the top of the third, so I have no subjective feeling about how he looked, I just now I like the result (as I did before).

[Going Underground]

I also went to sleep after the third. The A's look like the worst team in the AL. Looks like Wilson went 7 2/3,which was good for a bullpen without a long man. I wonder if they send him down and bring up another guy for the pen who can go long.

[Aglets]

I also went to sleep after the third. The A's look like the worst team in the AL. Looks like Wilson went 7 2/3,which was good for a bullpen without a long man. I wonder if they send him down and bring up another guy for the pen who can go long.

Pretty fascinating that while they do have the worst record in the AL they still have a positive run differential.

Oh, and the best Team ERA in the league.........

Just fascinating.

[ChinMusic]

I thought Wilson looked solid. He got rattled a few times and seemed to lose focus, but for the most part his control was on point and he was very pitch efficient throughout. Flashed a nice strikeout pitch (splitter/hard slider?) in the later innings also.

Was very close to finishing 8 complete, but tired a bit towards the end. All in all though, I thought he was impressive.

[Frobby]

Pretty fascinating that while they do have the worst record in the AL they still have a positive run differential.

Oh, and the best Team ERA in the league.........

Just fascinating.

Just one more disproof of the old saw that pitching is 90% of the game. It's actually less than half the game, since run scoring and run prevention are equally important and defense makes up part of run prevention. The A's have been a bit unlucky this year, but a poor bullpen and poor defense will contribute to bad "luck" sometimes.

[bobmc]

So, was Wilson "looking good" last night? I went to sleep after the top of the third, so I have no subjective feeling about how he looked, I just now I like the result (as I did before).

I did also but Britt summed it up nicely - Papa Dan! I also noticed when watching the replay that TW had his wife's grandfather's initials on the back of the mound for inspiration - great story! Watch the interview w Palmer and Thorne.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/140954618/orioles-homer-twice-in-rout-of-athletics

[Tx Oriole]

Wilson (1-1, 2.12) vs. Chavez (5-10, 3.53)

Gonzalez (9-7, 4.28) vs. Bassitt (0-4, 3.10)

Chen (5-6, 3.24) vs. Graveman (6-7, 3.84)

Chavez has struggled in most of his last 7 starts, seeing his ERA increase by a full run in that span. Wilson has looked good in his sporadic call-ups.

Bassitt was moved to the rotation at the end of June and has pitched well. In his four losses, the A's scored a total of 5 runs. Gonzalez has been spotty lately and needs to get back on track.

Graveman had been struggling a bit lately but was very good his last time out. Chen had one of his worst starts of the year last time out, but figures to do well in the A's cavernous ballpark.

The A's offense struggled mightily in July, even worse than ours. They just traded Zobrist, so their lineup does not feature anyone with an OPS over .800, and only two hitters (Reddick and Vogt) who have double-digit homers. These figure to be typical low-scoring Oakland games, though if we can get into Oakland's bullpen, they are not very strong, especially since they just traded Clippard.

Overall, this is a series that we need to win, and should win. I just hope we don't swing for the fences too much, since that doesn't really work well in Oakland.

Won last night. Good start.

[Babypowder]

So, was Wilson "looking good" last night? I went to sleep after the top of the third, so I have no subjective feeling about how he looked, I just now I like the result (as I did before).

The results were good. The A's lineup was horrid and I thought he looked pretty hittable. A lot of hard hit balls at defenders too. Still only 3 Ks in 7.2. I'm still skeptical he can sustain success.

[Machado13]

I fell asleep after 9-1 but I saw Givens had 3Ks in 1.1 innings. Nice!!

[lovetoaster]

I thought Wilson looked solid. He got rattled a few times and seemed to lose focus, but for the most part his control was on point and he was very pitch efficient throughout. Flashed a nice strikeout pitch (splitter/hard slider?) in the later innings also.

Was very close to finishing 8 complete, but tired a bit towards the end. All in all though, I thought he was impressive.

I thought he got better as the game went on. He was a little shaky early, and he struggled a little bit in the fourth. But after he got a visit from Wallace, he calmed down and was going after hitters more. I noticed that pitch in the later innings as well. I don't know exactly what it was, but it was pretty nasty.

I have always liked Wilson, but he has seemed to nibble a little sometimes. He did that early last night, but after he became more aggressive and started going after hitters, he looked a lot better. Granted, he had a comfortable cushion, and the A's offense is not exactly the best in the world, but they aren't completely awful.

[lovetoaster]

Givens is flippin' ridiculous. Sitting 93 with side arm action, and then drops a 83 mph slider in there with crazy movement.

He's better than Tommy Hunter and that's why that trade was so good.

He is fun to watch on the mound; he definitely looks comfortable out there. And the hitters do not.