Thursday, August 11, 2005
VEINS OF ICE
One thing I'll say for Ervin -- even when he's pitching poorly, he's calm and collected, and not given to Ramon Ortiz/John Lackey In April meltdowns. So, when he's on, as he was tonight, his game is a thing of beauty.
Six innings. 92 pitches -- 59 of which were strikes. Four K's to two walks and four scattered hits, including the one home run. Guys would get on, but The Kid always had the pitch to get out of it. He outdueled Barry Zito, and fairly handily.
The problem was Scot Shields allowing a big hit or two. Question: why the hell was Shields in the game in the seventh, anyway? Why can't Brendan Donnelly take the seventh? If you're going to to ask Shields to pitch two innings every time there's a close game, you're going to end up with one gassed out Shields before too long. Scioscia's loss of trust in Donnelly is alarming, as there's no one poised to take his place; Joel Peralta, who seemed lined up for the position, gave it away with inconsistency.
The OC's defense did the part of the giveaway job Shields failed to. This play was tougher than the one that Cabrera blew against the Yankees, but it still should have been made, and the Lads would have escaped the seventh with a tie game. Instead, it was over, and even a home run by Father Time (on a pitch Huston Street grooved to him, right down the middle) couldn't bring victory.
The Wyrd's got a decent shot tomorrow, and our starting pitching has been excellent the first two games of this series. But the offense never really got to Zito after the two runs were scored; the A's pitchers are good at limiting damage, even after you touch them up a bit. Still, I feel pretty good going into Thursday's game ... which probably means we're gonna get smacked.
One thing I'll say for Ervin -- even when he's pitching poorly, he's calm and collected, and not given to Ramon Ortiz/John Lackey In April meltdowns. So, when he's on, as he was tonight, his game is a thing of beauty.
Six innings. 92 pitches -- 59 of which were strikes. Four K's to two walks and four scattered hits, including the one home run. Guys would get on, but The Kid always had the pitch to get out of it. He outdueled Barry Zito, and fairly handily.
The problem was Scot Shields allowing a big hit or two. Question: why the hell was Shields in the game in the seventh, anyway? Why can't Brendan Donnelly take the seventh? If you're going to to ask Shields to pitch two innings every time there's a close game, you're going to end up with one gassed out Shields before too long. Scioscia's loss of trust in Donnelly is alarming, as there's no one poised to take his place; Joel Peralta, who seemed lined up for the position, gave it away with inconsistency.
The OC's defense did the part of the giveaway job Shields failed to. This play was tougher than the one that Cabrera blew against the Yankees, but it still should have been made, and the Lads would have escaped the seventh with a tie game. Instead, it was over, and even a home run by Father Time (on a pitch Huston Street grooved to him, right down the middle) couldn't bring victory.
The Wyrd's got a decent shot tomorrow, and our starting pitching has been excellent the first two games of this series. But the offense never really got to Zito after the two runs were scored; the A's pitchers are good at limiting damage, even after you touch them up a bit. Still, I feel pretty good going into Thursday's game ... which probably means we're gonna get smacked.
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