Replacing Resop on the 25-man roster will be left-hander Hideki Okajima, a non-roster invitee who had been lighting the world on fire in Sacramento. In 14 appearances Okajima had thrown 16.2 innings of 9.7 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and 0.5 HR/9 baseball for a 2.16 ERA and commensurate with that 2.18 FIP.

Players have been known to be designated for assignment and then outrighted and then later re-added to the 40-man roster (most recently of course being Daric Barton) and it is conceivable that happens with Resop as it seems very likely he’d clear waivers without issue.

A’s drop another series losing to Texas this afternoon. Bad offense and bad pitching don’t ever combine to turn into a win and it didn’t in this ballgame either. The A’s scored two runs while managing just five hits. The pitching gave up six runs. The A’s got down 6-0 early and Alexi Ogando had a no-hitter through five. That right about there says it all. Nelson Cruz was the A’s killer with a three-run home run and a great defensive play to end the sixth inning and keep A’s runs off the board.

The Bats

Lineup vs. Ogando: Coco Crisp CF, John Jaso C, Jed Lowrie SS, Yoenis Cespedes DH, Brandon Moss RF, Josh Donaldson 3B, Seth Smith LF, Daric Barton 1B, Eric Sogard 2B.

The A’s just didn’t hit. First hit came in the sixth inning, a Sogard double. Crisp grounded out to the right side allowing Derek Norris to plate him on a sacrifice fly. Lowrie and Cespedes then had the next two hits (both single and still in the sixth inning) before that aforementioned Cruz catch that likely saved two runs. The bottom of seventh saw the A’s get two more of their hits, singles by Donaldson and Smith. An Adam Rosales walk would load the bases before a Coco sacrifice fly would plate Donaldson and the A’s second run. And with that the A’s offense would again cease to exist. Team went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, though in fairness they did have the two sacrifice flies so they weren’t useless and stranded seven.

The Pitching

Appearances: Dan Straily, Jesse Chavez, Pat Neshek.

There just has to be a better option than Straily at this point who had another awful outing. Straily lasted just four and a third innings throwing 87 pitches and being tagged for five runs (four earned). Straily walked four, struck out two while also giving up four hits. Straily has no thanks to offer Chavez who came in in “relief” and started Cruz off with an 89 mph changeup that he promptly deposited in the seats for a three run jack. Two of those runs, of course, went to Straily. In fairness to Chavez, he was actually quite good in this lasting three and two-thirds innings of mop up work with that home run being his lone mistake otherwise managing one walk and three K’s and allowing just three hits including the homer. That said, a three run home run doesn’t help matters at all and a (at that time) 6-0 ballgame and 3-0 ballgame are very different things. Neshek pitched the final inning striking out one.

Hero/Zero

Straily is the zero. The A’s desperately need Brett Anderson back if his replacement pitcher is throwing up slop to the tune of this: 7.27 ERA. In fairness to him, he has been hurt by a likely to reduce .319 BABIP and a sure to improve 51.6% strand rate. But yeah, not pretty. 4.2 BB/9 isn’t going to get anyone into the Hall of Fame though you do have to still like the 9.4 K/9 which means we don’t give up on Straily entirely but we also perhaps don’t mind a trip down to Sacramento and recall Sonny Gray who has looked very sharp early (37.0 innings, 2.19 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 8.0 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 0.0 HR/9) or maybe we should be using Chavez as a starter right now instead of longman and call up like a Hideki Okajima (16.2 innings, 2.16 ERA, 2.18 FIP, 9.7 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and 0.5 HR/9) or Dan Otero (16.2 innings, 0.54 ERA, 1.88 FIP, 7.6 K/9, 0.5 BB/9 and 0.0 HR/9) to fill that bullpen spot?

Taylor was optioned to Sacramento after hitting an absymal .043/.120/.043 in 25 plate appearances. Taylor seems to do less with more as the more times he gets the plate it seems the further he sinks his WAR which stands at -0.4 (career mark now of -1.0) as he jettisons up I-80. Fair his BABIP of .056 is a bit harsh this year and wouldn’t keep up, but he has done really nothing to distinguish himself now in his entire 81 plate appearance career that has seen him stumble to a .135/.210/.189 slash line with a joke of a .189 wOBA and equally laughable 13 wRC+. It seems to me Taylor is forever destined to be AAA star and I wonder how many more opportunities he will have with the big league club prior to the 40-man roster expansion. If up to me, I would be giving up on Taylor about now.

A’s fans got free parking today the Coliseum. They got free baseball too as the game went into the tenth inning. What doesn’t come for free is a win and today the A’s did not earn one. Back and forth and back and forth this one went with blown saves on both sides of the ledger. In the end Chris Resop gave up two runs in the top half of the tenth inning with solo blasts delivered by Adrian Beltre (on a 3-0 pitch no less) and Mitch Moreland (his second of the game). When you have to get back two runs and have three outs to do it that is a tall order and the A’s, though they got back one and loaded the bases with one out, failed to tease home that second run and went to bed losers.

The Bats

Lineup vs. Derek Holland: Adam Rosales SS,  Jed Lowrie 2B, Yoenis Cespedes CF,  Josh Donaldson 3B, Derek Norris C, Luke Montz DH, Seth Smith LF, Nate Freiman 1B, Michael Taylor RF. 

Stranding runners was the A’s forte in this ballgame with eleven all said and done. Hitting just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position doesn’t help and five of those stranded were left in scoring position. The offense was concentrated between three guys too which doesn’t aid in a lot of run scoring: Donaldson went 4-for-5 with a run scored and two doubles; Smith went 3-for-5 with two runs scored an RBI and a double; and Freiman went 2-for-3 with a run scored before being pulled in favor of Brandon Moss. Those who have struggled with the average struggled in this matchup: Cespedes (.202) 0-for-5; Montz (.182) 0-for-2 with two K’s; Taylor (.043) 0-for-1 with two walks and a K; and finally Daric Barton (.125) 0-for-2 with a strikeout with the bases loaded and one out and Joe Nathan on the hill. He just need to get the ball into the outfield or anywhere but right at an infielder and instead he strikes out. That was the kind of day it was for A’s hitters.

The Pitching

Appearances: Bartolo Colon, Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook, Jerry Blevins, Grant Balfour, Resop.

Colon is just not very impressive. Aside from the walk thing (he allowed just his second of the year in this ballgame for a 0.4 BB/9) what does he really offer? His K/9 is now 5.1. His HR/9 is 1.3. His ERA is 4.56 but largely due to the insane walk rate his FIP is 3.93. While I think he likely is about a 4.00 pitcher, and while there certainly is value in that, I guess I still just find that unimpressive and pedestrian. That is exactly what Colon in his six innings of work was today with three earned runs coming on four hits (including a Moreland home run), while walking the one guy (the very patient Lance Berkman) and striking out nobody. No Ranger hitter was struck out by Colon. That is just annoying. And I think you can’t have sustained success if you are constantly putting the ball in play like that. Doolittle had a shaky inning with a Lowrie error and a single by Craig Gentry but struck out Ian Kinsler swinging to earn a hold and end the frame. Doolittle has been nothing short of fantastic with a 1.06 ERA and 2.97 FIP as he amasses 9.5 K/9 though the 100.0% strand rate and .132 BABIP are destined to alter dramatically by season’s end. Six shutdowns and two meltdowns on the year for Doolittle. Cook meanwhile allowed two singles (to Elvis Andrus and Beltre) that Nelson Cruz was able to sacrifice fly home the tying run earning him a blown save, and leaving Blevins to record the eighth inning’s final out. Balfour came in for the top of the ninth after Bob Melvin got ejected arguing whether or not Barton was safe at first on a groundout (replays seem to agree with Melvin), and got into a similar mess to Doolittle’s being victimized by a single and Rosales error. He struck out all three other hitters however to get out of the ninth unscathed. Enter the tenth inning and Resop on the hill: ground out, homer allowed to Beltre on a 3-0 pitch, line out, home allowed to Moreland his second of the game, strike out. Ugly. Loss. Done.

Hero/Zero

See above. Resop is the zero. Two solo shots. ERA swells to 6.00. Loss earned making him just 1-1 on the year. This was the first tough spot he got into leverage wise in ages as it seems he has only been put into the game when there is nothing to lose (a barely above average leverage of 1.07 in Boston on April 24th is the only “tough spot” since a 4.32 outing on the 12th of April against Detroit when I saw him pitch live). He did not put Oakland in a position to win, though amazingly he could’ve allowed the Beltre home run and the A’s got a run back in the bottom half. The surrendering two home runs however was too much for the A’s bats to recover from. Failure.

It has been awhile since the A’s faced the Rangers and the last time they did it was pretty good times as the A’s won the American League West on the last day of the season while Josh Hamilton and his glove sat and watched them celebrate. Flash forward a year forward and the A’s now just stand at .500 five games behind the visiting Rangers and 2012 Wild Card team. However regardless of their place in the standings, the A’s yet again are victorious with a good outing from both the offense and defense which was a bit unique as Yoenis Cespedes left the game with a stomach issue pressing Brandon Moss into center field duties. Anyhow, 40 games is the point where you’ve completed basically a quarter of the season and everything starts to sort itself out and you can truly assess where you stand. At 20-20 and at .500 that seems about right for this team, which I figured was not more than a few games better than .500 at best. Granted with all the injuries, this team could conceivably be better than they’ve played so that is why they still play the remaining 122 games.

The Bats

Lineup vs. Justin Grimm: John Jaso DH, Seth Smith LF, Jed Lowrie SS, Cespedes CF, Moss RF, Josh Donaldson 3B, Daric Barton 1B, Derek Norris C, Eric Sogard 2B. 

The A’s had a big second inning with three singles and a walk that gave them a 2-1 lead they never gave up. The next inning Oakland got back-to-back dingers from Cespedes and Moss in the bottom of the third inning to give them a 4-1 lead. A Norris double in the sixth would plate the fifth and final run. It was an interesting way to put together runs on the day as the A’s failed miserably with runners in scoring position (2-for-8) yet ultimately got enough runs to win the game. Jaso was the only A’s hitter with multiple hits (2-for-4 with an RBI and two K’s).

The Pitching

Appearances: A.J. Griffin, Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook.

Griffin looked great. 108 pitches, 72 for strikes net him seven innings of one run (a Mitch Moreland home run the lone mistake), six hit, no walk, eight K baseball. Great outing. The peripherals on the year (6.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9) are moving closer to last season’s (7.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9) for Griffin which is a good sign, as he has been successful despite the decline with his FIP swelling to 4.33 this season from 2012′s 3.85. Doolittle and Cook, two requisite guys to pitch when Oakland is ahead, pitched with Doolittle throwing a perfect inning with three K’s ending the inning with three straight fastballs looking to Craig Gentry.

Hero/Zero

Griffin pitched a hell of a game or helluva for those who prefer that spelling. Either way he was great and fully earned any plaudits he received for the outing. If he continues to pitch like this and impress, and I am growing in my level of appreciation of him, the A’s could have a frontline type pitcher on their hands.

A’s lose yet again to drop the series in the Pacific Northwest, they are now losers of six of their last seven. It is more of the same with both the hitting and pitching equally taking part in the losing effort. Not really anything positive to note in this game, they barely stay ahead of the M’s in the standings (1/2 game) they fall further behind Texas, fall under .500, no big positive takeaways.

The Bats

Lineup vs. Joe Saunders: Adam Rosales SS, Jed Lowrie 2B, Yoenis Cespedes CF, Josh Donaldson 3B, Luke Montz DH, Derek Norris C, Nate Freiman 1B, Brandon Moss RF, Michael Taylor LF. 

The first six hitters in the starting lineup all had a hit each. Donaldson’s and Montz’ hits were both back-to-back doubles accounting for the only run in the game. The A’s managed to strikeout ten times in this one despite facing Saunders (5.1 K/9 in his career) who was responsible for six of them. Yoervis Medina with 11.2 K/9 in his short career (7.8 K/9 in his MiLB career) and Oliver Perez (9.1 K/9) A’s hitters had more excuses against and Perez in particular was hot striking out the three hitters he faced: Freiman swinging, Moss looking and Taylor swinging. Moss the only lefty of the bunch to face the southpaw Saunders was particularly awful earning a golden sombrero. All in all the A’s were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight baserunners stranded. Speedster Norris stole his third base of the year off of Jesus Montero who is 1-for-17 throwing out runners.

The Pitching

Appearances: Tommy Milone, Pat Neshek, Jerry Blevins, Jesse Chavez.

Milone looked awful in this game: five innings, five earned runs, on six hits (one of which was a Kendrys Morales home run), with three walks and four strikeouts. Milone threw 90 pitches only 55 for strikes earning himself an ugly 5.81 FIP with a minuscule 25.0% ground ball percentage. On the season Milone now is a decent for his spot in the rotation 3.71 ERA (which actually is lower than last year still when it was 3.74), 3.62 FIP (well lower than his 3.93 last year) pitcher. His WAR is now at 0.9 WAR, his K/9 a career best 7.9 K/9, a 1.6 BB/9 (also career best) and 1.2 HR/9 (a career worst). Neshek pitched a perfect inning. Blevins was perfect save for a Jason Bay home run – which is far from perfect, while Chavez had an inefficient 21 pitch one walk, one hit, two strikeout inning.

Hero/Zero

You can’t let five runs in in five innings pitched and win a game – well you can, but not with the way this offense has been playing.  That is why Milone is the zero. Awful stuff, awful outing, total zero.

Not too shabby a day. I really can’t say very much about the quality of the Stockton Ports players I saw because I really didn’t see very much of them. B.A. Vollmuth who I liked in very limited action last year, stunk it up with two errors one backhanding a ball and one throwing a ball several rows behind first base (neither resulted in a run somehow). The Ports just kept grounding out and grounding out. The combined no-no was thrown by the Astros’ tandem starters Kyle Hallock and Luis Cruz, who had 9-2 and 3-1 ground out to fly out ratios respectively. I was one of 1,015 to see this feat and sit through the alleged 95 degree sun (my car said 99 when I pulled up, my sunburn sure feels hotter than that)  and I am pretty certain at just one hour and fifty-two minutes never before have I seen a shorter game. Great baseball, just never know when you’ll get to see something special.

There were a few noteworthy prospects to see in this one and all of them did nothing really worth seeing: Russell Baseball America’s #1 rated A’s prospect: 0-for-4, K and grounded into the game ending double play. Max Muncy Baseball America’s #16 rated A’s prospect: 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Vollmuth Baseball America’s #17 rated A’s prospect: 0-for-3 with two errors. Bobby Crocker Baseball America’s #25 A’s prospect: 0-for-3 (though he made a nice catch that the JetHawks thought was a trap – I thought it looked caught on the fly but I was somewhat screened by the second baseman). On the JetHawks/Astros side I saw, Delino DeShields Jr. Baseball America’s #6 Astros prospect: 0-for-3 and a throwing error, though he earned an RBI on a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed by pitcher Blake Hassebrock (the runner would’ve scored regardless, but DeShields could have been out on the well placed for scoring the run bunt down the first base line had Hassebrock picked it up cleanly). Nolan Fontana Baseball America’s #10 Astros prospect: 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. And finally Baseball America’s #24 Astros prospect the only one of the prospects to do anything of note Andrew Aplin: 1-for-4 with a double to deep left center (a little wind carried as the wind headed that way and it just got farther and farther away from Crocker) that ultimately would have him score as the first and deciding run in the contest. 

I scored this game (first time in a while). I do a terrible job of it. But here is the Ports side of the ledger, where the no-no can be appreciated:

After five straight nights of losing the A’s winning is a nice change. The game brings the A’s back up to .500 again which also is a nice change. The one run win gives the A’s a +6 run differential so they are at least a bit better than just .500 in some way, also that is the closest anyone is to even runs surrendered and runs scored. Not a particularly interesting game, as the two teams scored five of their seven combined runs on home runs, each team scoring once via alternate methods. Jarrod Parker finally looked good, Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour both attempted to “make things interesting” and that about sums up this one.

The Bats

Lineup vs. Brandon Maurer: John Jaso DH, Seth Smith LF, Jed Lowrie SS, Yoenis Cespedes CF, Brandon Moss RF, Josh Donaldson 3B, Daric Barton 1B, Derek Norris C, Eric Sogard 2B.

The A’s scored three of their four runs via the solo home run. Josh Donaldson started it in the second inning launching one to left field off of Maurer. In the fourth inning Barton got into the act with his first home run of 2013 (forever?). I was a bit disappointed he didn’t get the silent treatment like Ryan Sweeney got a couple years back, but instead he ran like a giddy school girl down the length of the A’s dugout getting high fives and butt slaps from anyone and everyone. A Lowrie single would plate Smith in the fifth inning before the A’s cranked up the solo home run machine again in the sixth this time with Moss launching his fifth. Who’d a thunk it but now tied for second for home runs on this team are three players with five: Donaldson, Moss and the improbable Coco Crisp. Cespedes with six leads the team and he went 0-for-4 in this game but had a (don’t think it was quite a home run robbing) double or more robbing catch of a Kyle Seager hit to center field. Spectacular play nonetheless. On account of the solo shots the A’s just didn’t put too many big rallies together and were just 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position stranding only four.

The Pitching

Appearances: Parker, Sean Doolittle, Cook, Balfour.

Parker has seldom looked good this year and this outing was probably his second or third best of the season depending how you choose to view things. His season still is far from pretty with a 6.86 ERA and 6.33 FIP but at least in May his ERA is down (5.56 from 7.36) though his FIP is up (5.50 to 8.48) so is he progressing? It is hard to really say. For what it is worth his 4.26 ERA and his 5.38 FIP in this game are better than his season marks but also not the sort of thing a scout would gush to their general manager about. He allowed a two run home run to Kelly Shoppach and by the end of this his home run rate was a hair under 2.0 HR/9 without rounding (1.99), a completely unacceptable level that continues to afflict is FIP and his overall results. While the 17.0% HR/FB rate is sure to come down his xFIP isn’t altogether attractive at 5.34. Another outing like this and perhaps Parker is ready to work things out with the A’s, another bad outing though and he should be remedying things with the River Cats instead. Doolittle came in to relieve Parker with Justin Smoak and Raul Ibanez on base. He allowed a Dustin Ackley single that plated Smoak before striking out Shoppach and getting Bay to ground out 6-3. Cook pitched the eighth, and allowed a baserunner in between each of his three swinging strikeouts via two singles and a walk. Endy Chavez was struck out to end the frame with the bases loaded and lead intact. Balfour did a similar act striking out Ackley before allowing a hit to Shoppach, recording a strikeout of Robert Andino, allowing a hit to Michael Saunders and finally getting Seager out 4-3.

Hero/Zero

No one really stood out in this game, but the hero will go to Lowrie. A 3-for-4 day with an RBI single to go along with his thirteenth double is a good day. His season numbers now are up to .312/.399/.471. His WAR at 1.0 ranks third on the A’s behind Donaldson (1.5) and Crisp (1.1), but he is tops in batting average and on base percentage. Good start with his new club, great addition that was well worth it and at least right now he is worth more than the -0.3 WAR the Astros acquired (Chris Carter at 0.1 and Brad Peacock at -0.4).

“This is pretty simple: If [umpire Angel] Hernandez had the same view of the play that the Comcast Bay Area viewers had and still couldn’t reverse the call, he is incompetent. If he did not have that view available to him when reviewing the play, Major League Baseball’s home run review system is incompetent. Which is it?”

Jorge Ortiz of USA Today correctly pointed out this sentiment likely felt by the A’s today,

“They’re also probably wondering what good is video replay if it can’t correctly settle calls like this.”

David Schoenfield of ESPN said this,

“What’s the point of having a replay system if you’re still going to blow the call? Did the four umpires all watch the same replays and all agree? Hard to believe. Even Indians fans were tweeting that it was a home run.”

As always Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle may not have had much in opinion to say about the call but came through with the most information about what happened. She wrote,

“Every replay in the press box clearly showed the ball hitting a railing well over the top of the wall in left, and [Bob] Melvin said this morning that it is his understanding that the umpires get all available views from both the A’s and Indians broadcast outlets. A video coordinator with access to all feeds to me he hadn’t seen a single replay where it wasn’t obvious that the ball went out… Getting the call right, Melvin said this morning, ‘Doesn’t mean we were going to win the game, but at that time in the game, we were in a better position with our bullpen. You never know how it will go, but it looked like it should be going on.’”

All said and done the call was blown. With today’s game underway it seems nothing will be done but as Slusser noted in that above mentioned piece, she expects MLB will talk publically about this at some point. I am not one to criticize umpires. In real time watching that home run/double it conceivably could have been a double. But that is why we have these replays for home runs and in slow mo it was beyond obvious it his the railing above the wall, even the reactions of the fans above knowing the Indians had blown the lead and they’d missed catching a home run ball was evidence of such. I don’t want to see replay like in the NFL where we all stand around and wait for ten minutes to review things. Last night’s review took far too long. But it seems that you could add a fifth umpire who sits upstairs in the booth and watches everything and acts as a sort of check on this whole system on the field. The A’s won their division last year by a game on the final day of the season, calls like this matter.

After a good road trip to New York it is depressing to come into Cleveland and drop three straight and hopefully avoid a four game sweep tomorrow afternoon. It hurts even more to lose a game due to a controversial call as tonight’s went. First off let’s say this: the Indians could have won this ballgame. Adam Rosales‘ home run/double was not the be all and end all of this game. It would’ve left the score tied 4-4 from which a myriad of possibilities could have occurred. Of course even if this game had somehow given the A’s the lead, being in Cleveland the Tribe would have had a chance to win regardless. But what hurts is not being given that chance to win. Angel Hernandez flat out missed a home run call when Rosales in the top of the ninth belted a game-tying home run to left field off Tribe closer Chris Perez that clearly hit the railing above the wall and above the yellow line signifying a home run. This was a no doubter. Everyone watching the ComcastBayArea broadcast could see that quite clearly and indisputably. How this could go unnoticed by Hernandez and the umpiring crew is criminal. I have no clue what view they were watching but this call could not have been more cut and dry and Bob Melvin‘s ejection was fully earned as he had every right to be enraged. The reaction even of the fans who both seem to be upset they did not catch a home run ball and upset that their hometown Indians seemingly blew a game was completely ignored as well. The A’s “lost” this one and it is a shame. While there are calls to have Bud Selig force a restart of the game from that point on with the game tied, I doubt that that happens no matter how many people cite George Brett‘s pine tar game.

The Bats

Lineup vs. Justin Masterson: John Jaso C, Seth Smith LF, Jed Lowrie DH, Yoenis Cespedes CF, Brandon Moss RF, Josh Donaldson 3B, Daric Barton 1B, Rosales SS, Eric Sogard 2B.

Masterson had his sinker working as he had a 66.7% GB% in this game allowing just four hits in his seven innings on the hill. The A’s only extra base hit of the game was Rosales’ “double”. The A’s went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position stranding eight. One guy A’s fans have become loathe to see come up with two outs and a run scoring opportunity presenting itself has been Barton freshly recalled from Sacramento. But Barton came thru in the top of the fourth hitting a single to plate Cespedes and Moss and stake the A’s out to a 3-0 lead. The only hitter with multiple hits was Smith who went 2-for-5 with a run scored. However Smith was also the opposite of Barton and did not come through in the clutch stranding two runners in scoring position with two outs.

The Pitching

Appearances: A.J. Griffin, Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook.

Griffin didn’t look so great in this ballgame. Six and two-thirds innings on the mound yielded six Indians hit including solo home runs by Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana as he walked just two and struck out just four. The big problem being the big flies really as otherwise Griffin’s pitching while far from spectacular would’ve likely sufficed for a win. On the year he now has 6.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 but a concerning 1.4 HR/9 that skew his FIP to a 4.57 contrary to the lower 3.83 ERA. There are a few concerns here, first and foremost his BABIP has ample room to grow from .250 and all his peripherals are worse than last year when they stood at 7.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9. That said Griffin has shown flashes of brilliance and everyone is entitled to a bad outing or two. Doolittle knows nothing of bad outings these days and nor does Cook as both looked great in their respective third of an inning and inning of work. Cook pitched a perfect eighth striking out two to bring his K/9 total to 10.7 K/9. He now sports a 1.69 ERA and 1.92 FIP as he has been lights out and worth 0.4 WAR a total that bests tonight’s starter Griffin at just 0.3 WAR.

Hero/Zero

Smith even though the clear zero is Hernandez and his blown call. Smith ended the game with the bases loaded and the A’s needing to score one run. It isn’t usual that you’ll give the zero to a player who had the best offensive night of anyone arguably, but when the game was on the line Smith failed to come through. Rosales had his home run/double, then a rattled Perez hit Sogard with a pitch. Jaso walked to load the bases. Smith came up took a strike before grounding out to Perez to end it. That’s a zero. Sorry, Seth.