Blind mice.
Little pigs.
Musketeers.
Stooges.
Outs.
Strikes.
Runs against the A’s.
Home runs for the A’s.
Well, it was certainly fun to see back-to-back-to-back home runs by Eric Chavez, Frank Thomas, and Milton Bradley on consecutive pitches. It was also nice to see the bullpen handed a lead, and to have them finish off the victory.
Wins are always welcome, but this is not the M.O. the A’s want to see too often. This was exactly the same sort of game they played in the first two games in Minnesota: the starting pitcher coughs up a costly three-run homer, and the A’s have to scratch and claw their way back into the game.
It’s a good sign that each time, the A’s offense did rebound to make a game of it, and that this time, the A’s managed to overcome the deficit and win the game, but you can’t expect that too often. If the A’s plan to compete for a title, they need to stop letting these small rallies turn into big innings. They’ve allowed at least one 3-run inning in six consecutive games now. They’re lucky that they managed to go 2-4 in that span.
I have tickets for tomorrow’s game, my first of the year, so let’s hope that (a) it stays dry, and (b) Dan Haren can put an end to this big inning nonsense.
Update: Just thought I’d throw out this chart, to show how ridiculously one-sided the big homer problem has been so far this year.
| Home run type | Hit by A’s | Allowed by A’s |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | 14 | 4 |
| 2-run | 3 | 2 |
| 3-run | 0 | 5 |
| Grand slam | 0 | 1 |
| Total HRs | 17 | 12 |
| Total Runs on HRs | 20 | 27 |
| Runs/HR | 1.18 | 2.25 |
The A’s have hit five more homers than their opponents, but scored seven fewer runs on those homers. The Runs/HR has to start to even out, right? You’d think…
1. It could even out or not. Isn't this as much a reflection of low OBP by the A's (third last in MLB) as anything else? The A's pitchers need to stop walking batters and the A's hitters need to start getting on base.
2. Well, yeah, you're right that's why it's been happening.
But 1.18 runs/HR is a ridiculously low number, and 2.25 is ridiculously high, and neither rate will continue.
Last year, the lowest rate was 1.55, and the highest was 1.75, according to this:
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showtopic=4873
3. That's definitely right, Ken. But a lot of A's are pressing far too much at the plate. yesterday both Padilla and Benoit were getting sick movement on a lot of their pitches but not consistently getting them over for strikes. And the strike zone being called was pretty ungenerous. i lost count of the number of A's that bailed them out by swinging at balls.