8/10 & 8/11
Seattle 2--Oakland 0

Felix Hernandez
7 & 9 with a 2.71 ERA
vs
Brett Anderson 3 & 3
with an ERA of 2.88

The First
A's lead off with Coco Crisp
(you gotta love that name)
who runs out a bunt to take 1st base.
Enter Daric Barton who singles to center.
Kurt Suzuki lines to left. WTF?
Hernandez put a runner on every base--
Not what you want from your ace.
But he rallies--fans DH, Jack Cust
& renews fan trust
with a 4-5-3 double play off
off Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Ichiro leads with his samurai stance
but can't hold back on a crap
strike 3.
Chone Figgins fans --Lopez walks &
Gutierrez doubles left.
The table's set and...
... Casey Kotchman just grounds out to second.

The Second
Felix puts up two more K's
On Rajai Davis & Mark Ellis.
Radio tells us
This will be Cris Carter's
2nd game in the Bigs,
but he
cracks a brokebat grounder
that Wilson digs
out for out #3

Alan Moore flies
out long to right
Ryan Langerhans tries
and fails to hit a wicked slider
Matt Tuiasosopo sends
a high rider
chopper to retire
the side.

The Third
Cliff Pennington fans--
hands Felix his 4th K
Crisp beats out a single to short
But Barton grounds into
a double play.

Josh Wilson pops out.
Ichio grounds out.
Figgins strikes out.

The Fourth
Kurt Suzuki flies out right
Crust draws a walk
Kousmanoff watches
strike three zip by
& Ellis misses for his 3d strike.

Lopez grounds to third
but he's too slow even with Kouz's bobble
Gutierrez grounds out to short
Kotchman brings Oakland some trouble
with a liner past Pennington's dive.
But Alan Moore strikes out & so
that retires the side.

The Fifth
Davis K's looking
Carter fans swinging
Pennington singles to center
but then
gets nailed trying to steal second.

Langerhans singles to center
Tui strikes out swinging
Wilson grounds out to 3d
& ends another inning.

The Sixth
Coco sends a first pitch fly ball to port
Barton & Suzuki both strike out
Felix had his groove on
& the crowd is smelling shut out.

Ichiro singles to short
Figgy sacrifice bunts
Lopez grounds out to 3d
& Guiti's intentionally walked.
Then Kotchman spanks a rocket by
first baseman Bartons frantic dive
& Ichiro scores--RBI
Gutierrez steals third to open the door...
...for another strikeout from Alan Moore.

The Seventh
Cust flies out to left
Kouzmanoff grounds to 3d
Ellis strikes out swinging at a pitch down in the dirt
that gets by Moore, he runs it out
& makes it safe to 1st.
But Rajai Davis flies out right
& now it's Louie Louie time.

Langerhans singles to center
then makes the traditional bonehead
base running screw up:
taking off early for second & getting picked off...
...but no the ump calls a balk
the manager's talk
& Langehan's still alive.
Tui grounds to short
Wilson does the same
Ichiro grounds out to second.
This is really the pitchers' game.

The Eighth

Carter fans swinging
Pennington grounds out to short
Coco Crisp strikes out

A's sub in Craig Breslow to pitch
Figgy singles to center to keep
his run for a 9 game hitting streak.
Then Lopez executes a pitch
perfect hit & run behind a running Figgy
who makes it to 3d.
Saunders pinch runs for Lopez
Then Guti puts on the hurt
with an RBI single
But Kotchman smacks one in the dirt
for a 4-6-3 double play.
Moore flies out to right
but a two run lead is OK..

The Ninth
...but wait
O crap! Heavy metal guitars!
The scoreboard's gone all Hot Topic!
This can only mean...
...Aaaardvark!
When David Aardsma steps in to save the day
we shudder with dread that he'll waste Feliz's 13 K's
But Barton flies out to Center
& Suzuki flies out to Figgy
& when Cust is struck out looking
WE WIN! & everything's jiggy.

We pack up
& give thanks for the luck--
we caught a game that didn't suck.