Tonight’s starter Brett Anderson was cruising through the first five innings although his pitch count was approaching 100. He gave up two walks to two Tigers and had one out, here comes Bob Geren.  110 pitches will not harm your pitcher anymore than 100 will so why take him out? Geren if he had any cojones would allow these young pitchers to develop under pressure situations, making these crucial starts worth while. Last I checked the A’s were 10 1/2 games out and the second worst record in the league. These young guys have been practically babied and by a horrible father in Bob Geren. Anyone see how many pitches Cy-Young winner Tim Lincecum throws.

What kind of coach doesn’t at least give his young pitcher a short talk and a pat on the back for the solid performance he just put out there?

Who else but Huston Street to finish the A’s off and complete the sweep for the third consecutive day. Who better than Carlos Gonzalez to drive in two of the three runs for the Rocks. The offense with their minds elsewhere failed to get on the board and took their fifth straight loss 3-1.

Pitching was good enough to win for the A’s, starter Vin Mazzaro allowed three runs in five innings of work. Mazzaro (2-3) gave up five hits walked four and struck out eight but was stuck with the loss. The bullpen held their own and threw the remaining four innings in shut-out fashion.

1-11 with runners in scoring position is tough to watch but it’s reality with the “new” Athletics. The A’s  sit in the standings in last place and second to last in the Major Leagues at 31-43.

They have officially hit rock bottom so whats next?

Trevor Cahill lasted only 3 2/3 innings surrendering seven of the Rockies 11runs Saturday night as the A’s fell to the Colorado Rockies 11-9.

I think some good news came of today though guys, rumor has it that the Cardinals are stepping up efforts to acquire the “NL only” slugger Matt Holliday. If the A’s can somehow swoop up their third-base prospect Brett Wallace, it would be a nice deal for the A’s and we would at least have a solid future third baseman. You guys like the idea or do you think the season is still salvageable?

The A’s have one of the worst records in the Major Leagues and it’s not getting better with Rajai Davis, Jason Giambi, Matt Holliday and Orlando Cabrera. I know the Holliday remark might be seem crazy but I personally think he detracks from the old Oakland “chemistry” thing they had going for them the last few years.

For those A’s fans (or baseball fans) who want to see a free game this July 1st versus the Detroit Tigers, we are still offering a four pack of seats free of charge to the individual who brings in the most traffic. All that is needed of you is to tell your friends or whoever to leave some comments and use your name as reference.

The tickets will be sent via Email instantly after we tally up the results. We will be choosing the winner by July 29th so hurry! Go Athletics and good luck fans!

The A’s lost another, this time 6-3 to the San Francisco Giants. It’s tough to watch the cross-bay rivals dominate the A’s in this years inter-league play to the tone of 5-1, their best ever against Oakland. This was one of the poorest showings I have see in a while, what’s next? More Gio Gonzalez getting lit up by the GIANTS! Please no more Gio.

What are A’s fans supposed to be thinking right now, positive thoughts? Good luck. The product put on the field has looked nothing like the previous most A’s fans are accustomed to. To the A’s management: we know the pitching will be good, Mazzaro, Cahill, Anderson and Outman have shown that much, the question is what will the offense consist of? RIght now the only thing certain on the offensive side is Ryan Sweeney, Kurt Suzuki and Jack Cust. This team is in disarray and personally, I’m a little worried about what the future Athletics, specifically the offense, will consist of.

Is anyone else a bit skeptical about next year and beyond?

Trevor Cahill and Booby Crosby were the MVP’s tonight as they helped the Athletics take game one of the East Bay, Bay Area rivalry 5-1.

Trevor Cahill was on his game tonight after allowing an early solo home run to Giant first baseman Travis Ishikawa. Cahill (5-5) went seven innings allowing only one earned run on four hits, striking out four and walking one, this all without topping the 100-pitch plateau.

Crosby drove in three of the five A’s runs with a two-run double in the sixth and an RBI ground out in the eighth. Other notables were the two hits apiece from Orlando Cabrera, who also drove in one, and ex-Giant Rajai Davis.

The task gets much tougher tomorrow as the Giants deal Tim “the freak” Lincecum. The A’s will try to counteract “the freak” with Vin Mazzaro.

Free Tickets still available, for more info on how to get them, check previous posts. Go A’s!

Dallas Braden went seven strong innings giving up only two runs but the A’s offense couldn’t come through for their starting pitcher, losing a pitchers duel to the San Diego Padres, 4-1.

You can say the bullpen didn’t help out either, as Craig Breslow and Russ Springer each gave up a run in relief. Springer served up a two-run home run to Kevin Kouzmanoff that basically closed the door on any chance of a comeback for the Athletics.

Ryan Sweeney drove in the lone run for the A’s on a double to left that scored Jack Cust.

Next up are the Bay Area rival orange and black. The A’s will have a tough chance scoring any runs off their pitching staff if they can’t hit today’s opposing pitcher, ex-Giant, Kevin Correia.

Go A’s!

Ryan Sweeney drove in the tying run in the six and Mr. clutch Kurt Suzuki gave the A’s the go ahead run with a two-out RBI single to right propelling the A’s to their second straight win against the Padres 6-3.

Starting pitcher Brett Anderson lasted five innings but was replaced having thrown only 68 pitches. Anderson was decent tonight, getting out of jams when needed. The rookie lefty surrendered three runs on five hits striking out three and walking one.

Some more crucial insurance runs were manufactured by the A’s in the eighth inning, this time of back-to-back home run variety. Adam Kennedy hit one to right and Jack Cust completely annihilated one to deep left center to give the A’s their final runs of the night. Kennedy went 4-5, Ryan Sweeney had two hits as he gets re-aquaitned to baseball activities and Jack Cust had two hits.

Four-pack of A’s tickets still up for grabs! Read below for more info, Go Athletics.

With two down in the top of the eighth versus the host San Diego Padres, A’s down 5-3and Jason Giambi and Orlando Cabrera each come through in the clutch with two hits, driving in three total and giving Oakland the one-run lead and eventually the comeback win. Andrew Bailey closed the door with another four-out save.

Final Score 7-5.

Earlyr in the contest, stand-out rookie pitcher Josh Outman left early (second inning) with what is being said to be a strained elbow, hopefully that’s all it is as Outman has been the most consistent among A’s rookies pitcher. Edgar Gonzalez came in for relief and lasted 3 1/3 and gave up four runs. Following by Russ Springer who gave up the hit that scored two of the earned runs credited to Gonzo, Springer also allowed his own run as usual.

The other three runs came from Cabrera (sac-fly), Giambi (bases-loaded hit by pitch), Bobby Crosby (sac-fly) and the ever-important insurance run by Kurt Suzuki (single). Suzuki has my vote for the lone All-Star representative, he also had three hits tonight by the way.

Ticket contest reminder:

The game is for July first when Oakland hosts Detroit, four tickets in total, free to the winner.

The contest ends on June 29th if there isn’t much of a contest the tickets will go to waste. What kind of A’s fans would waste tickets, not you guys.

The commenter who brings the most traffic via message boards, blogs, face book, my space whatever will win the tickets. Make sure that anyone who comments on Athleticshomeplate.com references you by name so we can keep a count. Go A’s

Another nail-biter led to an A’s win as the insurance run in the sixth proved to be the difference. The A’s beat the Dodgers in the second game of the three-game series 5-4.

Rookie pitcher Trevor Cahill was doing his job until the Oakland defense began to meltdown with costly errors leading to two runs. Cahill (4-5) allowed two runs (zero earned) on four hits in 51/3 innings. He struck out three and walked four.

The offense was led by home runs by Jack Cust and least likely Rajai Davis. Davis’ home run was a solo shot to left and Jack Cust, a two-run shot to left center. The A’s had a 4-0 lead until the fifth, sixth and seventh inning led to four runs for the Dodgers. If not for the insurance run in the sixth this game might have ended up as a defensive loss.

Orlando Cabrera continues to pile up the errors making him the worst defensive shortstop in the Big’s. He sure hasn’t materialized. Bobby Crosby is beginning to look better and better to me.

The game ended with Andrew Bailey shutting the door for his sixth save.

Now to the free tickets…

The game is for july first, versus the Detroit Tigers, four tickets and here’s what we want to see from you A’s fans.

The commenter who brings the most traffic via message boards, blogs, face book, my space whatever will win the tickets. Make sure that anyone who comments on Athleticshomeplate.com references you by name so we can keep a count, and that’s it good luck and go A’s!

The contest ends on June 25th!