Game 42 Recap or Jeremy Spoke in Class Today

Detroit 5, Oakland 2 (WPA Graph from Fangraphs)

A's Current Record: 20-22

Well, after a brief respite against the woeful Mariners, the A's offensive struggles have returned (8 runs in the last 7 games against non-Mariners teams), as they managed only 5 hits and 2 runs against Jeremy Bonderman and 3 relievers.  With the Giants coming to town, I don't expect this to change --- they face Zito, Cain & Sanchez...at least they miss Lincecum.  There won't be a change in performance until there's a change in personnel, whether that means waiting for Crisp, Ellis and Buck to come back, or calling up guys from Sacramento, the A's offense is just simply not good enough to compete on a daily basis.

Their best rally against Bonderman came in the 3rd, thanks mostly to command issues --- Bonderman walked 3 and forced in a run on Kurt Suzuki's HBP, but Jack Cust couldn't get the job done with the bases loaded and 2 out.

Tyson Ross pitched decently, striking out 4 and walking 1 in 4 innings, but gave up some hard-hit balls that led to three runs.  Vin Mazzaro looked fairly good, sitting in the 92-94 MPH range with good control (1 BB in 5 IP), giving up only a 2-run HR to Miguel Cabrera, and Cabrera's pretty good at baseball so I can forgive that.  A decent tandem start but 5 runs allowed is going to mean a loss almost every game with the A's offense.  Cabrera's 5th inning HR put the nail in the coffin, and though the A's scored a late run and got the tying run to the plate in the 9th, the outcome was really never in doubt.

Early next week Zack and I will discuss the state of the A's offense, and if it continues down this path, I'll have a lot to say.