OK… so it wasn’t a pitchers duel! The Giants will take it.

JOSE JUAREZ/AP

 

David Price vs. Madison Bumgarner was supposed to be a pitchers duel.

Then Price let up 4 runs in the top of the first and thoughts of a blow out danced in Giants fans heads.

Then Miguel Cabrera hit a 2 run shot and it was 4-2 after 1. So much for the pitchers duel.

Give both Bumgarner and Price credit that they didn’t pitch that badly for the rest of the game. In fact Price wound up throwing 8 2/3 innings, striking out 11, walking 1 and letting up just 1 run after the first.

But guess what? The 4 runs in the first still count. And Buster Posey’s homer gave them a little cushion.

There are no style points for wins. There are no moral victories for losses. Both teams need all the wins they can get. And if the Giants can beat Detroit in the ESPN Sunday Night Game tomorrow, they will have swept a contender on the road and the worst case scenario has them 2 games out of the West.

Giants will take it. So should their fans.

Meanwhile the A’s got a desperately needed walk off, feel good win.

I guess I should update the Dodged Bullet/Teeth Grinder tally.

An explanation of what this is all about can be found HERE.

 

GIANTS DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

The Giants jumped ahead 4-0 in the first against David Price and held on for dear life to win 5-4 in Detroit. DODGED BULLET

53 Dodged Bullets 48 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: +5

 

A’S DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

The A’s bats were dead until the 9th inning. Scott Feldman made it to one out in the 9th but Donaldson led a rally, Derek Norris won a great at bat and Chad Qualls let up a game tying double and Jed Lowrie beat the Astros with a walk off hit, 4-3. DODGED BULLET

50 Dodged Bullets 48 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: +2

 

 

RED SOX DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Clay Buchholz got out of a 6th inning jam with a double play and the Red Sox topped the Blue Jays despite losing Mike Napoli to illness by a final of 4-3. DODGED BULLET

Dodged Bullets 61 Teeth Grinders 72

TOTAL: -12

The Giants, A’s and Red Sox all won on the same day by one run. What are the odds?

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – September 6, 2014

Getty Images

 

Ron Washington stunned the baseball world by resigning suddenly on Friday. Not only was his leaving the team unexpected, but there is a slight aura of mystery regarding why the beloved manager is walking away.

To help make sense of it all, I brought in Texas Rangers fan and creator of The Scoop, Jamie Kelly, to talk about Wash’s legacy and her reading between the lines of the press conference.

It is an emergency and STOP THE PRESSES episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast

James Shields, Tyler Matzek, Yoenis Cespedes, Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Pineda, Vidal Nuno, Danny Santana and Anthony Rendon all added to their totals for Who Owns Baseball?

Follow The Scoop onTwitter by clicking HERE.

Follow Jamie on Twitter by clicking HERE

Read my latest piece for The Scoop, comparing David Wright with Dan Aykroyd by clicking HERE.

This won’t help end the “A’s need Cespedes’ bat” narrative any time soon

AP Photo – Winslow Townson

Are you tired of the “A’s are losing because they traded way Yoenis Cespedes” narrative?

I know I am. That line of thinking discounts 7 strong Jon Lester starts and a slumping Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir.

BUT a night like tonight isn’t going to make it go away. In fact it will strengthen the resolve of those who stand by it.

The A’s had a super frustrating night that included a bases loaded and nobody out scenario that yielded exactly zero runs. Then Chris Carter hit what felt like his 39th homer against the A’s this year and boom! A’s fall to the Astros, 4-3.

(Interim Houston manager Tom Lawless is 3-0. Maybe he is on to something.)

The A’s needed a big hit from a big run producer. Like… maybe… CESPEDES!

In a weird wild back and forth game, the Red Sox erased several Toronto leads including a 2 run hole in the 10th. Leading the charge? That would be Cespedes. He got 4 hits, driving in 2 including the walk off single in the bottom of the 10th to cap the comeback.

Could the A’s have used that? Would the A’s be in worse shape without Lester?

We won’t know, but we will hear the A’s fans lamenting the loss of Cespedes for at lest another game!

I guess I should update the Dodged Bullet/Teeth Grinder tally.

An explanation of what this is all about can be found HERE.

 

GIANTS DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

52 Dodged Bullets 48 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: +4

 

A’S DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

The A’s slide continued as they wasted a bases loaded and nobody out scenario and surrendered a 2 run go ahead homer by Chris Carter, sealing Houston’s 4-3 victory. TEETH GRINDER

49 Dodged Bullets 48 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: +1

 

 

RED SOX DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Red Sox trailed 2-0, then 6-3 and then 8-6 in the bottom of the 10th. Each time they fought back. Xander Bogaerts helped send the game to extra innings with his 2 run double in the 8th. Yoenis Cespedes made it a 9-8 walk off win against Toronto in the 10th. DODGED BULLER

Dodged Bullets 60 Teeth Grinders 72

TOTAL: -12

 

This tally includes Koji Uehara letting up those homer against the Yankees. Forgive me that I didn’t want to write about that!