*** Official Oakland Athletics @ Kansas City Royals Game Thread (8/13) ***

[alnorth]

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
OAK (73-47)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
KC (65-54)	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	X	3	7	0

Jason Vargas throws the 6th Shutout and the 11th Complete Game of his MLB career.



Loss, (13-5) Scott Kazmir 7IP 3R 3ER 1BB 3K 1HR
Jesse Chavez 1IP 0R 0ER 1BB 0K

VS.



SHO, (1); CG, (1); Win, (9-5) Jason Vargas 9IP 0R 0ER 0BB 4K

Home Runs

OAK

none

KC

Omar Infante, (6) - Bottom 3rd 2-run homer to left

Other Relevant Games

Final: NYY 3, BAL 5
Final: PIT 4, DET 8
Final: PHI 3, LAA 4
Final: TOR 0, SEA 2

Starting Lineups

OAK

1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Sam Fuld, LF
3. Josh Donaldson, 3B
4. Jonny Gomes, DH
5. Derek Norris, C
6. Jed Lowrie, SS
7. Nate Freiman, 1B
8. Josh Reddick, RF
9. Alberto Callaspo, 2B

KC

1. Norichika Aoki, RF
1. Jarrod Dyson, CF
2. Omar Infante, 2B
3. Salvador Perez, C
4. Billy Butler, 1B
5. Alex Gordon, LF
6. Josh Willingham, DH
7. Lorenzo Cain, CF/RF
8. Alcides Escobar, SS
9. Christian Colon, 3B
9. Mike Moustakas, 3B

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Looks like we found Hootie's man crush on the Royals.

dude his stuff this year is incredible

hitters just look befuddled up there...I've seen so many wtf defensive swings it's hilarious

they literally don't have a chance against Wade

I would never in a million years flip/flop Holland and Davis because why **** with what's working? and Holland is a top 2 or top 3 closer in baseball...

but put Davis in that 9th with an even filthier arsenal and even better command?

Good lord.

If we can get a big league bat out of Holland this offseason...pull that trigger.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by lewdog

And he'll be back for the 9th IMO. With a short leash.

Yep

[stonedstooge]

I wasn't real thrilled about Vargas replacing Santana, but DAMN he can be nails. He'll be pissed if Ned doesn't let him finish it

[TLO]

Originally Posted by PHOG

He'll be out for the 9th, too...I believe.

No question.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Vargas is going to pitch the 9th. I presume that Yost won't pull him at least unless the tying run comes to the plate, so he'll probably get 2 baserunners.

I think that's dumb against a team like the A's.

Definitely, now, bring him out for the 9th. No doubt. But give him 1 runner.

Why play with fire when you have Greg Holland? I just don't get it.

[bsroyals54]

This would be the 3rd CG in a span of what, 2 weeks? a month?

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

Look, I'm not saying it's a bad move. Vargas is a beast. Great competitor.

I'm saying...you have two of the best pitchers in the game pitching your 8th and 9th inning.

99 times out of 100 we win this game if we turn it to Wade for the 8th and Holland for the 9th.

I'm just a 99% kinda guy. And 9.5 times out of 10 we give Vargas the 8th and we win as well...

so it's really a win/win for us

Just love watching Wade pitch. So perhaps I'm a bit biased.

The issue is that this is not a random inning where we come into the game not having watched the first 7 innings and only see the stats. We come into the decision with the knowledge that Vargas is really accurate tonight and has all his pitches tonight.

If it was all a bunch of luck, smoke, and mirrors with terrific defense bailing him out, it'd be different.

[Al Bundy]

Vargas going ham on the A's.

[Hootie]

from all offseason accounts, Vargas is one of the greatest competitors in the game. Kind of like a "big game" Vargas. They say managers have to pry the ball out of his hands.

So, in that regard...I trust Vargas a hell of a lot more than I'd trust Santana in the postseason.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

If we can get a big league bat out of Holland this offseason...pull that trigger.

You definitely trade Holland for a bat. Teams over-value closers and Greg is at the peak of being valuable. With Wade on this team...it's a no brainer.

[bsroyals54]

Get a couple runs this inning

[TLO]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

If we can get a big league bat out of Holland this offseason...pull that trigger.

Yes.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by alnorth

The issue is that this is not a random inning where we come into the game not having watched the first 7 innings and only see the stats. We come into the decision with the knowledge that Vargas is really accurate tonight and has all his pitches tonight.

If it was all a bunch of luck, smoke, and mirrors with terrific defense bailing him out, it'd be different.

Ok, I get that.

But Wade Davis has only allowed more than 1 run in an inning ONCE this year (2 runs) and it was on April 5th when he was reestablishing a feel for being a reliever.

I have relative faith in Wade Davis at this point. He's given up 1 ****ing extra base hit on the year.

If you're going to use him how Ned uses him...IMO, he gets the ball in the 8th inning, no matter what, in any game where we are leading by 1, 2 or 3 runs (and sometimes 4).

[Coach]

DO not lift your bat.

This guy can't find the strike zone.

[C3HIEF3S]

Pirates have something brewing, 2 on no outs on Nathan in 9th.