You can't ask for much more, can you?
Throw some rookie pitcher into the fray against the defending Cy Young
winner, who is backed by a powerful offense. What should happen? What
did happen?
The A's have been on the reverse end of this phenomenon, of course --
often falling to pitchers making their debuts in frustrating fa****on.
But turnabout is fair play, and the A's got some back yesterday.
Dana Eveland is already making Billy Beane look smart for trading Dan
Haren. Now, I won't get too excited and imagine anything grandiose for
Eveland in 2008. But this was a nice moment. Sometimes, veteran
lineups don't know what to make of a rookie they have little scouting
information on, so if Eveland faces the Indians anytime again soon, I
won't hold my breath.
But what a start! Seven innings, 101 pitches, six hits, one run, one
walk and seven strikeouts. Barry Zito? Eat your heart out. With some
timely hitting from Mark Ellis and Jack Cust, the A's cruised and
evened their record for the young season.
Maybe it cannot last, but this was a nice day this early in the
season. The Indians are supposed to be playoff contenders, and with
their ace on the mound, the A's stuffed them. I'm inclined to think
Sabathia suffers from Dontrelle Disease in this case (i.e., starts in
his hometown make him tight and thereby very mediocre), but I'll still
take it.
A win is a win, and this was the second "cool" win this year already
(to go with the Game 2 win over Boston in Japan).
A's Record: 3-3
A's Should-Be Record: 4-2
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