As I watched Tyson Ross labor into the 6th I asked my girlfriend “Why do the A’s carry 7 relievers if they aren’t going to use them?” That was rhetorical, but then Bob trotted out gasoline-men Blevins, Fuentes, and Norberto who promptly threw 4 more runs on the fire via 4 hits and 5 walks in 2.1 innings.

And the Giants needed every one of those runs as their own bullpen was less than stellar, allowing the A’s to score 4 in the bottom of the 9th, saved only by the arbitrary positioning of runners on a two-out ground-rule double, otherwise the game is tied. Weeks then popped up to end the improbable rally and give the Giants the series win with one game left today.

And what a great game this could be: Cain v. McCarthy. Whereas yesterday was a festival of run scoring. Today, 1 run could be enough: big ballpark, high sun, just don’t hit it to Moss.

LOL, .. Brilliant!!

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsjo09.shtml

. . . so you don’t have to take it from me, but that dude can peetch.

Only Colby Rasmus can stop Colby Rasmus.

This second one is probably actually true.

On the positive side, Ozzie does show some evidence of recalling the tushy biting he received at the beginning of the season for his revolutionary pronouncements, saying “I don’t go een there [the meeting]. I got some of keeds in there and I don’t want maybe to say something I regret.” Ozzie’s got a point there. This team was represented as a nice mix of veterans and young ballplayers, and that’s how the chemistry is working out: the veterans are slumping, and the young ballplayers are learning how to slump from them.

And that’s how it is with a disintegrating team in panic mode. Last night, with no games to watch – today’s feature matchup is R A Dickey versus the Borg, of course – I betook myself to a fundraiser for a local environmental organization being held at a disco in a converted villa near downtown Macondo. I didn’t stay long – disco is audial feces and the constant downpours made the beautiful gardens unusable as a relief route – but one of the features of this party was that three tony local eateries were offering a variety of invasive species cuisine including chargrilled python with Asian noodle salad, lionfish ceviche, pulled wild boar sliders and northern snakehead sushi. It was like eating brains – it killed the pain of being despondent.

Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still.
TS Elliot, 1930

There is a silly error in the AP news wire about the story. Reed Johnson was credited with scoring a run for Toronto. It has been a long time since Reed has played for The Jays. Kelly Johnson was the guy who scored the run that came in between Encarnacion’s lead off homer (his 21st) and the slam by Rasmus.

Cecil had been ineffective in the spring and in his early starts in Double A. His season and possibly his career turned around when he got some tips from a former Jays pitcher who happened to be in town to visit a son who played for the Fisher Cats. I am not a fan of the ex Jays pitcher, so I will just call him Roidger. Roidger tweaked Cecil’s delivery. This enabled him to hide his pitches better and to gain more control. Cecil practiced what he was told and began to pitch a lot better.