Oakland (8-11) @ Seattle (13-9)

[Sweezo]

That's great. The M's send Clement down to AAA in the spring because they thought his defense wasn't up to par, and instead turn to Rob Johnson...who in this inning couldn't throw out Crosby stealing second and then muffed a perfect throw by Ichiro at the plate allowing the A's to take the lead. Throwing out basestealers is one thing...but how do you drop that throw? Dammit.

EDIT: And goddammit do I hate Angie Arlati and Bill Kruger. "Oh, that throw by Ichiro had a funny short hop...it was a tough play." Like it's Ichiro's fault he throws a ball on a rope to the catcher and the damn catcher muffs it. Jesus...

[nuke the whales]

So Morrow goes on the DL when he says he's fine, so tonight Lowe has to work the 8th instead of Aardsma because Aardsma has to work the 9th and both give up a run and we lose by 1...

[BlackMamba]

so morrow is fine? sooo... how come...

[Bulltalk]

Yeah, that guy was out at the plate by 10 feet if he could have controlled the throw, which was decent enough. Too bad. It was a game that was going to be decided by such key moments, and we just couldn't quite come out on the plus side of them.

[Sweezo]

Yeah, but I can't blame Lowe or Aardsma. Lowe got Giambi to hit a bad luck dribbler that was a hit because of the shift, and Aardsma took a loss on a run that shouldn't have scored. Johnson has to make that play. If you can't make that play, you're not a MLB caliber catcher.

so morrow is fine? sooo... how come...

Yeah, but you know how the prior regime like their pitchers tough, and rushed Putz out there too soon and he ended up sucking?

I'm fine with playing it safe and sticking a guy on the DL. Pitchers say "I'm fine" all the time when they clearly aren't.

[BlackMamba]

oh, ok, so aardsma is the closer until morrow returns? what's the status on cordero?

[BlackMamba]

14 innings?!?!?!!!?!!!!!

[Bulltalk]

I turned it off when we gave up 3 runs in the top of the 13th. Then I saw on espn that the game was tied 7-7 in the 14th. If we win this game, good God!

[Bulltalk]

I believe...I believe...I believe....

[Sweezo]

What a game!

BTW Vargas looked pretty damn good. If Wak's serious about his comments re: not giving Silva much more of a leash, maybe they plug Vargas into the rotation?

[Bulltalk]

:D What a game!

BTW Vargas looked pretty damn good. If Wak's serious about his comments re: not giving Silva much more of a leash, maybe they plug Vargas into the rotation?

He just looked like he belonged out there, didn't he? Like he was unflappable.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Woooowww. What a game. By the 15th inning, I just wanted the damn game to end, haha.

VARGAS TO THE STARTING ROTATION PLEASE! He looked good out there and he's already 10x better than Silva.

We should feel fortunate to win this series. We easily could have gone 1-2 or even could have gotten swept. Fortunately our guys battled and never gave up.

And how about my boy Gutierrez? He's swingin a smokin hot bat.

WOOO! THIS WIN FEELS GOOD!

[TheUrbanZealot]

one thing i like about wakamatsu is that he has little patience in his pitchers. he's not about to let a pitcher stay out there just because of a low pitch count.

i really hope silva is pulled indefinitely from the starting rotation- he was overrated to begin with. i hope this proves that even w/ a supposedly strong defense (despite us being high in errors for some reason), silva still proves he is just horrid. What is his record since he's left the Twins? Like 1-20? lol

no team is going to be dumb enough to take on his contract, so we have two options:

- minors
- cut him

wak would immediately vault himself into my fav manager of all time if he cut him. i swear that would take balls but it would send a clear message that he's not putting up with inconsistency too long. i mean how many more chances is this guy supposed to get?

[Sweezo]

no team is going to be dumb enough to take on his contract, so we have two options:
- minors
- cut him

Well...not really. Given the time Silva's put in I sincerely doubt you could just move him to the minors. You could designate him for assignment, which means he has to clear waivers and accept the designation to the minor leagues. He'll clear waivers with that contract but I don't see him taking the demotion.

What seems most likely is a phantom injury that puts him on the DL so he can get his head together, or moving him to the bullpen where he can work on mechanical issues [i.e. take a break and get his head together].

[Sweezo]

BTW...with regard to Jason Vargas, keep in mind he's one of those players we got in the Putz deal. Chavez and Gutierrez also came along in that deal and they've proven their worth to this team already, not to mention a slew of minor leaguers including Mike Carp who's raking in Tacoma right now.

Putz is playing decent for the NYM, but the difference between what Putz is doing for the NYM and what the players we got for him do for us is staggering.

[BlackMamba]

OMG, what a win!!!! again lópez delivering at the exact moment!!!

and i agree with sweezo, i was going through the putz deal to see how the incoming players were doing and i know we all know how chavez and gutierrez are being way better than what at least i expected and looking at vargas' numbers i think he could have some sort of the same impact (i hope).

plus i also agree that the Ms have to do something about silva, whatever they want but just take him out of the rotation please!