The A's 2-0 lead held up through the full nine innings this evening, despite a bases loaded situation in the sixth that threatened to turn the game over to Boston in a big way. A's starter Lenny DiNardo, who was initially relegated to a minor role in the team's bullpen after surprisingly making the team in Spring Training, continued his strong run of starts with six shutout innings, picking up the win, making the very best of the little offense the A's made available against Japanese import sensation Daisake Matsazuka. (Recaps: Athletics Nation, Associated Press)Unlike previous Boston games at Oakland, we were not overwhelmed by the partisan Red Sox favoring crowd. Though many were there to support their team, the "Let's Go, Oakland!" cheers drowned out the attempts to start a "Let's Go, Red Sox!" push. And we Oakland fans tried to be good hosts, not overwhelmingly booing their stars and instead, supporting our own.
While Monday's game had gone to more than 4 hours and extra innings, today's game really wasn't much in doubt after the bases loaded situations for the Sox couldn't result in runs scored. In fact, as the Sox batted in the top of the 9th, and the strains of "Celebration!" started to play in the Coliseum, we were making our way out the stadium and getting ahead to beat the traffic home.
While the A's haven't exactly rolled over the competition this year, it's good to see they've won four straight, some of their regulars are coming back from injury, and in all games, they've managed to compete. 2 down, and 2 to go.