The Braves' Mark Kotsay had to be smiling on his way home from the ballpark tonight, as his RBI double off an Alan Embree fastball was the difference in yet another low-scoring A's game.

What won't show up in tonight's box score is that the A's were thrown out at the plate twice in the game's first two innings.  

Both Kurt Suzuki and Dana Eveland were gunned down at home, which one could argue was the difference in the game.  

This prompted a few different reactions in the game thread, including some annoyance directed at the A's first-year third base coach, Tony DeFrancesco, for sending the starting pitcher home on a close play at the plate and running the A's out of the inning. Any time there's a play at the plate there's an increased risk of injury and that - coupled with the fact that Eveland isn't fast and doesn't get much practice sliding - made me think it was a bonehead decision to send him.  

Now in the post-game wrap I'm changing my tune. The way this team is struggling to score runs, it's hard be upset about taking a chance.

You can vote in the poll below if you think it was right to send the base runners. 

A's and Braves are tied at 2 as we head to the top of the seventh. The Braves rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.  

Despite some questionable baserunning/third-base coaching, the A's take a 2-0 lead into the top of the third.  

After being swept by the Indians and losing five of their last six games, the 23-19 A's look to regain their winning ways tonight at 4:35 Pacific as they open up a three-game interleague series against the Braves in Atlanta. 

Dana Eveland, Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer have been taking batting practice this week in preparation for their starts at Turner Field, which of course will require them to wield the bat. 

Tonight's opener pits Eveland against rookie Jair Jurrjens, who is off to a very good start to the season.  Jurrjens has struck out 41 batters and allowed 37 hits in 49.1 innings this year, to the tune of a 3.10 era and 1.09 WHIP.  Opposing batters are hitting .206 against him.  The 6'1" righty has been especially tough against right-handed batters, who have hit only .186 against him.  Jurrjens is the second-most famous current MLB player from Curcaco, in the Netherlands Antilles.  Without clicking, can you think of the most famous Dutch in the game? 

Jurrjens was acquired by the Braves (along with Gorkys Hernandez) in the offseason in exchange for Edgar Renteria. If we were to judge the trade today (which we probably shouldn't yet), the Braves look better than the Tigers; Jurrjens has pitched well while Renteria has struggled just as much in his second tour of the AL as he did in his first (Boston, '05).

With Mark Ellis still unable to play, shortstop/second baseman Gregorio Petit was recalled for today's game, taking Santiago Casilla's roster spot as Casilla headed to the DL. But Petit finds himself in a reserve role on the bench tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if he gives Crosby at least one much-need day off while he's up here, though. 

Tonight's lineup alters L-R-L throughout, with Hannahan leading off.

Happy Friday! In honor of the A's and Braves series this weekend, gondeee over at the Atlanta Braves site, Talking Chop, and I have exchanged a few quick Q&A's for your reading pleasure. I thought it would be nice to start looking forward to a new series. My questions are in bold; his answers below. I hope you enjoy!

1) Tim Hudson has been a fan favorite in Oakland ever since his major league debut. What is the general feel about him in Atlanta? And do you consider him an 'injury risk' like we always did?

He was mysteriously ineffective his second year in Atlanta, but if there's one constant it is that he's been healthy, so I don't think anyone here really considers him an injury risk (knock on wood). He's been our best (and most uninjured) pitcher this year and he's pretty much the ace of our staff -- I think most Atlanta fans feel good about that. He's signed for another two years, at what may turn out to be a very affordable price. Tim really fits right in -- it feels kind of like he's always been a Brave.

2) When the A's parted ways with Mark Kotsay, it was widely assumed that his career was all but over. How did Atlanta fans feel about his acquisition, and how do they feel about his start this year?

When we acquired Kotsay -- for what seemed like a pretty hefty price-- the headline on my site was "Kotsay it Ain't So!" I wrote quite a bit of negative things about the trade, and most Braves fans agreed. I think many of us thought his career was almost over as well. But the more I watch Kotsay, the more I like him. I don't Andruw-Jones-like him, I don't Tim-Hudson-like him, I don't know if I really even J-D-Drew-like him, but I like his hustle and his bat has been a pleasant surprise so far this year. Now, Jamie Kotsay on the other hand, I was very excited about acquiring.....

3) How do you feel about the rumors of Smoltz coming back as a closer when he gets off the DL?

I just want him to be healthy. Whether or not he's relieving or starting, if he's healthy, then he'll be our most effective pitcher.If he does come back as our closer for the rest of the year and Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez come back from surgery, then we will likely have the best bullpen on the planet. I would say though, that we need him more as a starter, and I would prefer he return in that role. (By the way, today is John Smoltz' 41st birthday.)

4) What do you think of your new GM?

He likes to make trades. He has put together a good team with a lot of depth, and that depth, especially in the rotation and bullpen, is really paying off right now. He's probably done about all he can do from the GM's box, now it's up to Cox and the players to make the team on the field win like they're supposed to win on paper.

5) What is your overall feeling about the Braves this season, and their chances in the NL East? How glad are you that the Braves did not re-sign Andruw Jones? Will they sign Teixeira (a favorite of mine)? Should they? Are there any minor league prospects you would like to see come up? What do you think would improve their season?

The Braves so far have vastly underachieved and have let a lot of games slip away. Their record in one-run games is atrocious and a point of great frustration for us the fans. I think every Braves fan knew we weren't going to resign Andruw, and most of us believed he would continue the downward spiral he began two years ago (and so far,we're right). I think if Andruw was out of our price range, then Tex certainly is -- Boras will make sure of it, and there'll be some other owner who's willing to break the bank for the prize slugger of next year's free agent market. I have never been a fan of committing somuch money to one player, especially one with a history of injuries. As for minor leaguers who could help the Braves, you know we're a lot like the A's in our never ending supply of minor league talent. You may actually get to see the major league debut one of our young starters, Charlie Morton, with the way Chuck James is pitching rightnow. We just promoted our top young pitcher, Tommy Hanson, to double-A, so he may not be more than a year away from the majors, but I'm more than anxious to see him. Jordan Schafer will probably take over for Kotsay next year, and when he returns from suspension he may get a look this year. Infielder Brent Lillibridge may get some more major league time later in the season, and we still have another Jones(Brandon) who is a second half player.

Well, in true Athletics’ fashion, the A’s broke up Cleveland’s impressive scoreless innings streak in the second inning, not with a towering homerun, not with a solid single, but rather with a Cleveland error. Seven innings later, they scored another run on a passed ball. Oh well, if someone would like to give us runs, we’re not above accepting them. Lord knows we’re not going to score them ourselves.

After falling behind 1-0, the A’s opened the second inning with singles by Crosby and Hannahan, but after the promising start, Murphy (who was swinging away) failed to advance the runners in his at-bat, getting Bowen up with one out. Bowen hit a weak ground ball, which was thrown away for the A’s first run, but Davis hit into a fielder’s choice and was thrown out stealing to end the inning. Ouch. That was just about the extent of the A’s threat on the day; sadly, it was more offense than the previous two days combined.

Greg Smith danced around runners all day; after the A’s tied the game at one, he promptly gave the lead right back to Cleveland, hitting and walking the first two batters to lead off the third (both scored). Smith was lucky to get out of the third with only the two runs scoring; he was helped immensely by a diving catch by Cust, and the decision to swing on 3-0 by the Indians’ back-up catcher.

Smith ended up in a world of trouble the very next inning, with runners on the corners and no one out, but he did what he does best, and picked off a runner to help himself out, ultimately getting out of the inning unscored upon.

You would think this would fire up the offense, but you’d be wrong. The A’s offense in this series; quite frankly, was disgusting, none more so than a struggling Daric Barton, who just looks lost at the plate. Between his golden sombrero, Suzuki’s 0 for 100,000 streak and Davis’ spotty leadoff hitting (he singled for his first hit in the eighth today), the top of the lineup is not doing a lot of table-setting for the two A’s that recorded multiple hits; Frank Thomas, who singled twice and walked once today, and Bobby Crosby (two singles), but unless they could have turned all of their hits into homerun power, their efforts were wasted.
 
On the other side of the mound, Smith got into trouble yet again in the fifth, with runners at second and third and one out, but somehow Houdini’d his way to the second out. By this time, Geren had seen enough, and yanked Smith in favor of Devine for the third out (obtained on a nasty strikeout), obviously trying to salvage the game if possible. Devine would go on to pitch the sixth also, flashing his filthy stuff; begging the obvious question: Can he hit?

As if the lack of hope in any future offense wasn’t bad enough, true disaster struck in the seventh as Casilla served up a homerun ball and refused to get back on the mound, taking his injured arm, and the A’s best bullpen threat with him. I’m no expert, but I sincerely doubt this is a day-to-day thing, even with the A’s shady injury reports. With the club going into a National League park this weekend, I would not be surprised if the A’s make an immediate move.

And what amounts to nothing more than a footnote in this nightmare game, the A’s made it semi-interesting in the 9th (this assuming that you actually thought they could get a hit with RISP); loading the bases and knocking out Betancourt with one out, but pinch-hitters Sweeney, M and Sweeney, R both struck out after the Indians gifted the A's another token run, which was pretty much the perfect ending for what was basically the worse A’s game played in quite some time; certainly this season.

I’m not going to say anything negative about Greg Smith today; the fault is 100% on the offense. Although Smith was hit around a bit, he allowed only three runs, which is kind of amazing, considering he has been pitching without any run support for his last FOUR starts! That’s got to be frustrating for a pitcher; knowing that if you allow a single run, you’re going to automatically lose. It’s certainly frustrating for fans (see: today’s, yesterdays, and Tuesday’s game threads).

 If your offense can’t get it together to score a run, you don’t deserve to win any games, and that is exactly what the A’s deserved (and got) in Cleveland: nothing. It’s no mystery as to why; they do not score if they do not walk, and Cleveland handled the strike zone perfectly throughout the series. Not to mention, with the notable exception of the errors that led to the A’s lone runs, the Indians also played solid defense.

The A’s (and their fans) would be best-served to forget this entire series, and start again fresh in Atlanta, which they have the chance to do tomorrow at 4:35. I have to believe it can only get better from here.

Damn May!

(ahem) In what is possibly the worst timed event spiel ever from a marketing perspective, I want to get a count of people who are in for a ticket to the great AN Tailgate of 2008! It will be held before the game on July 12, against the Angels (6:05 start). The normal seats are $30; we are getting them for $21 (includes S/H fees). Please vote below.

What could be worse than your offense being absolutely SHUT DOWN for three straight games, you might ask?

Well, how about your number one reliever absolutely going down after throwing a pitch? Casilla served up a homerun ball and immediately left the field with an arm injury.

To say that is not good is an understatement.

Oh yeah, and it's 4-1 Indians as we go to the top of the eighth.

Well, I'd like to say that the A's broke Cleveland's scoreless innings streak, but I'd be lying. Cleveland broke it themselves with an error, giving the A's their lone run.

On the pitching end, Smith looks less than sharp, allowing three runs already in this game. It's bad, but if not for a diving catch by Cust (yes, really!), it could be a lot worse.

We go to the fourth, 3-1 Cleveland. A's still looking to score a *real* run.

Good morning AN!!!!

Welcome to the Game Thread, Really Early Edition, where our 2008 Oakland A's try to break the Indians' impressive scoreless innings streak with a little offense! The A's will send out Greg Smith as the sacrificial lamb starting pitcher today against the Indians' bats, looking for a little thing called 'run support'.

I'm tired of wasting great pitching performances on our offense. It's annoying. I'd like some runs today, please.

And if nothing else, we can keep the announcers quiet about how good Cleveland is and how lucky the A's have been. You know, with the whole scoring 6, 6, 9, and 7 runs against the Indians in our previous 2 series' wins. That kind of lucky.

Grab your coffee, warm up your fingers, and get ready to root the A's on to victory!

LET'S GO OAKLAND!

Yawn.

I know I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but there are days when it really rings true: I would rather lose a game 9-8 than to lose 1 or 2 to 0. Not scoring runs is frustrating; the game really does lose a lot of its fun when you watch the A’s get mowed down for the second straight night.

It’s hard to separate the horrible offense from the quite stellar pitching by C.C. Sabathia (who recorded 11 K’s on the night), but when Suzuki is running up a 0-22 streak, and the rest of the A’s hitters don’t look much better, it’s probably really easy to pitch to them. All it takes is throwing strikes, and only walking players (ahem, Frank Thomas) who will be promptly doubled off. In nine innings today, I never got the feeling that the A’s were close to scoring. Not once.

Despite a couple of rocky moments, Joe Blanton pitched a gem of a game; two solo homeruns the only blemishes in his seven innings. He was helped by a come-backer double-play right back to him with the bases loaded, but it was all for naught; he picked up yet another undeserved loss.
 
It took him until two outs in the eighth inning, but Rajai Davis finally became the leadoff hitter that I was looking for (I loved him in the first slot when lineups were announced), as he dropped a bunt down the third base line for a hit, something that he probably should have tried in every single of his previous at-bats.

Mike Sweeney put another couple of hits on the board, and Crosby and Murphy added their solo hits to Davis’ single, but that was the entirety of the A’s offense tonight. C.C. went the distance without breaking a sweat.

Incidentally, the three innings that I had to listen to the Cleveland announcers was quite enough, thank you. Yes, I recognize that the last two games have been downright embarrassing for the A’s offense, and how we look like anything but a contending team, but before you make us out to be the Royals, try remembering two early-season series wins against your team, both of which you barely escaped a sweep. I’m just sayin’.

The A’s look to stave off a sweep of their own early tomorrow morning (9AM Pacific time). Smith against Laffey.