Thursday, May 29, 2008

Random Variation

The hacks here at MOE were this close to swallowing rat poison earlier this month (Canate, off in Japan, would have committed hari-kari), when the Jays rallied for three runs to tie the Rays in the 9th, only to squander a leadoff triple from Rios in the 10th and go on to lose. At that point, it would have been far more reasonable to succumb to the blackest despair than to press on. I hated Gibbons, J.P., half our roster, and most of all myself.

But lo and behold, we've started to win the close ones. Last night LeRoy, pitching as well as he's ever done (he leads the majors in IP and the league in Ks), was his awesome self, and we scrapped out a 2-1 victory. We're 5-1 in our last six one-run games (9-10 in such games and 3-3 in extras on the season). Frank Thomas has taken his 1.000 OPS with Oakland to the D.L., having suffered leg injuries. We've taken our lumps; is Vishnu now smiling on us?

2 comments:

Razzer said...

I will tell you I am pretty shocked. Taking 2 of 3 from the A's is sweet and something I thought unlikely.

Also, good call on lefty masher Mench. The platoon is an awesome strategy that should be used more.

We are now tied with the A's and second in the wild card.

Portnoy said...

Yup, this is a nice start to the road-trip. I'm not sure why the As have been doing well this season. Their lineup (and even their pitching staff) is full of mediocrities and journeymen. I wouldn't be surprised if they faded out of contention this summer.