So what?

You knew a loss was coming one way or another. It was enough of a wet dream come true beating Haren and Blanton in consecutive games...the thought of competing against a healthy Rich Harden? Forget it. Not even if an Oakland shortstop boots the ball around again....which, of course, happened.

So, why waste an excellent start on a sure-fire loss? That obviously must have been the question running through free-agent acquisition Miguel Batista's head as he took the mound and proceeded to pitch what must have been one of the worst games of his career. It started with Mike Piazza being balked home with no outs in the top of the second, and didn't stop until Batista had given up 8 runs on 10 hits in 4 and 2/3 innings, walking two, and even balking a second time.

In comparison, Seattle's bullpen was a remarkable bright spot, as Sean White and George Sherrill combined for 4 and 1/3 innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and walking two batters.

Oaklands bullpen was even better, with Jay Marshall and Huston Street throwing two perfect innings. Not hard to do really against a sub-par team floating high on a 2-0 start and no doubt looking ahead to a weekend in chilly Cleveland against a group of young mashers...it'll be interesting to see how Felix does against a team that actually has good hitters....

It's a great feeling knowing we matched our win total against Oakland from last year. But it just highlights the fact that we did so miserably against them. Yet, even though i must be realistic and admit the M's are not that much better of a team than they were last year, I can certainly proclaim, realistically, that the A's are indeed that much worse of a team, and cannot wait to get through these next 18 games against far better opponents until Seattle lands in oakland on the night of the 25th...until that tidy little two game sweep graces our boys, I can only bid them the best of luck vs the tribe, boston, minnesota, and 8 combined games against the other two western division teams that actually have potential.

I know, I'm going to eat this post when oakland goes 85-0 in August. Of course that's not possible, but if anyone could do it, it'd be the friggin' A's.

Oh yeah, Adrian Beltre went 0-4, stranding 3 base runners and striking out twice. Realizing he was going to be facing future perennial Cy Young candidate Harden, I benched him on my fantasy team in favor of upstart Devil Rays infielder B.J Upton, who did not play thanks to a rain out in New York-thereby making him a far more valuable player for me, game limits be damned!