Elise Amendola, Ben Margot and Jae C. Hong- AP
Clay Buchholz took a 1-0 lead into the 8th inning, continuing his strong finish to the season.
Sonny Gray allowed only 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 12 in 7 innings against the Angels.
Madison Bumgarner pitched into the 8th inning, slugging a 2 run homer of his own in LA.
What do these three pitching performances all have in common?
THEY ALL LOST!
Ben Zobrist hit a 2 run double in the 8th that gave Tampa Bay the lead and opened the flood gates to a 5 run rally.
The A’s left the bases loaded AGAIN and wasted an amazing Gray perfomrnace.
Justin Turner homered twice and Matt Kemp homered accounting for all of LA’s offense and was enough to keep the Giants from clinching a playoff spot.
So much goodness could have happened tonight. Instead all we are left with is wasted pitching performances.
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
Madison Bumgarner let up 2 homers in the first to put the Giants in a 3-0 hole. He cut it to 3-2 with a homer of his own but the Giants bid to clinch a Wild Card spot fell short as the Dodgers won 4-2. TEETH GRINDER
57 Dodged Bullets 51 Teeth Grinders
TOTAL: +6
A’S DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally
Sonny Gray’s brilliant pitching performance was wasted as the Angels kept the A’s from scoring. Oakland loaded the bases in the 8th but Stephen Vogt flew out and the Halos hung on, 2-0. TEETH GRINDER
55 Dodged Bullets 58 Teeth Grinders
TOTAL: -3
RED SOX DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally
Clay Buchholz was fantastic through 7 but ran out of gas in the 8th. Ben Zobrist and David DeJesus got RBI hits against Buchholz and the Rays came back to beat the Red Sox 6-2. TEETH GRINDER
Dodged Bullets 64 Teeth Grinders 77
TOTAL: -13
Giants can make everything moot with a win tomorrow. The A’s can inch closer to a Wild Card spot as well. Red Sox? They will always have 2013.
Sully Baseball 