Friday: Athletics: 7-8 Mariners

Saturday:Athletics 3-2 Mariners

Sunday: Athletics 7-8 Mariners

What a series. What a blow. Twice, the A's came within an out of winning the game, and twice, it fell apart for them. The one game that their offence didn't give them a hatful of runs to play with, the pitching staff, with a somewhat foruitous performance, and another dominant two innings from Andrew Bailey stepped up and kept the Mariners quiet. If it was bad enough to lose the first game to a ninth inning walk off knock, to go down in fifteen innings on Sunday was a real knife in the heart, especially given the fact that they put up three runs in the top of the 13th.... which they promptly gave right back.

Sigh.

Both of the losses really come down to one thing; the bullpen has been tremendous thus far, but it's been really overworked. You can only go to the well so many times before it'll run dry. Gio Gonzalez, newly called up from AAA Sacramento, was charged with closing out the bottom of the thirteenth on Sunday; however, he'd already thrown four innings, and ended up tossing more pitches than any other pitcher in that game. This really comes down to two things - the starting pitchers have to go deeper into games, and the hitters need to put runs on the board when they're really needed. They have shown some signs of improving in both of these departments, but they're really paying for what happened during the week down in Texas.

The Good

Josh Outman, a man definitely playing for his future in the starting starting rotation, really stepped up on Sunday. He went six innings (he had a 90 pitch limit - if he'd been more active of late, he would surely have gone deeper into the game), his only blemish being a two run homer in the forth. He was touching 97mph on the gun, and if he can keep this up, he'll give the A's a nice problem to think about in the rotation.

Gio Gonzalez, until the 13th inning, looked pretty great, too. His control, often a problem, was good, and his fast ball had some nice zip on it. Hopefully he can build on this, and at the very least provide the team with a solid bullpen option.

Gregorio Petit was called up to the big league team, and had an immediate impact, showing a good glove at second, going 3-4, and knocking in the winning run on Saturday. Nice to see Bobby Crosby show some aggression in running straight through the catcher, too. Do the 49ers still need a strong safety?

The Bad

With Brad Ziegler sick, the back end of the A's bullpen suddenly looks thin. Michael Wuertz looks decent, but Russ Springer... not so much. Get well soon, Brad!

Bob Geren seems to have forgotten about Travis Buck, too. I'm not sure what he has to do to actually get in a game..

The Ugly

Dana Eveland, it's safe to say, will not look back on this weekend with anything approaching fondness. He had a fifth inning meltdown during his start on Friday, and coming as an emergency reliever in the fifteenth on Sunday, he gave up the game and took a loss.

Matt Holliday. 3-15 on the weekend, with just one walk. 0-7 on Sunday was particularly painful. He has shown some signs of life of late, but wow.

Next up...

They have a two game series against the Angels. God knows, they need a confidence boost; this could be a big series in the context of their season. Brad Ziegler should be available tonight, but if he doesn't have to pitch in a high pressure situation, then that'd probably be a good thing for team and player.