It's as if the game never happened. But we were there. We saw some things that were out of the ordinary. Yet we also witnessed things that were all too ordinary, in a game the A's were trailing 6-1, but will never count.According to "The Little Green Book", the last time the A's had a game postponed was against the Philadelphia Phillies in June of 2003. That also led to the last time the A's played a doubleheader, against the same Phillies the following day. Unfortunately, we ended up losing both games, 7-1 and 8-3. Now, our calendar says August 18th we will play two against the Royals and hope for a different outcome.
Today's outcome really never looked like an A's win was in the cards, rain or shine. After a top of the first that saw two A's go down on strikeouts, Esteban Loaiza continued his struggles, loading the bases for Reggie Sanders who cleared them with a grand slam. Amidst two outs, Loaiza loaded the bases a second time in the inning, before giving up a fifth run on an infield hit. In all, adding two walks to start the bottom of the second, Loaiza had faced 13 batters. 10 of those batters reached base, six by way of the walk.
The 2006 debut of Ron Flores, like the slam by Reggie Sanders, will be washed away. But he closed out the second, and teased us with what real pitchers do - get outs, something Loaiza has been baffled by so far in his early starts with the A's. Having seen him pitch in person at the Coliseum, his outings have baffled the imagination. The velocity is missing, the control is off, and those that make it over the plate have been hit. The A's, while good on paper, cannot withstand injuries to key players like Harden, Crosby, Street and Loaiza and be expected to excel.
We were given a gift with today's rainout. The division thus far is giving the A's a gift in that nobody is pulling away. With Texas' win today, the A's fall 1/2 game behind, into 3rd, but remain only a game out of first, pending the Angels game. It's early, but today's shortened outing leaves us all lacking for confidence. We cannot expect the rain to bail us out all season long.
Listening to ''Personal Jesus (Pump Mix)'', by Depeche Mode (Play Count: 6)