Dan Haren shut down the Sox bats (7-4-1-1-4, 107) -- retiring 14 straight Boston batters at one point (and 18 of 19) -- and Frank Thomas hit two long home runs, driving in four of Oakland's five runs.
Kyle Snyder allowed 10 hits in six innings, but seven of those hits (and all five A's runs) came in the fourth and fifth. He made the same pitch to Thomas twice -- fastball belt high -- and got hurt both times.
Snyder also threw more fastballs in his second and third times through the order, which caused some problems. During his Seattle start last Friday, it was mentioned that there is too much of a speed difference between his changeup and fastball and batters can look for the heat and still be able to adjust to the change. He needs his curveball, which splits the difference in velocity, to be successful. In all of his starts, Snyder has pitched very well for the first three or four innings. He may be better suited for the pen.
The Sox scored their run in the seventh on a Manny double and Crisp single. (How many diving/sliding catches did the A's make in this series? A ridiculous amount. I lost count.)
***
Kyle Snyder (7.02) / Dan Haren (4.02), 3:35 PM
In his last start, Snyder threw five innings against Seattle, allowing two unearned runs. He lost his only start against the A's this season, allowing five runs and eight hits over 4.2 innings on July 16.
In five innings against the Red Sox on July 15, Haren allowed five runs and nine hits. Haren is 0-4, 5.36 in his last seven starts and is pitching on four days rest.
Tonight: Yankees (2.5 GB) (Wright) at Rangers (Rheinecker); Blue Jays (5.5 GB) Burnett) at Mariners (Moyer).
5 comments:
Having Thomas on my fantasy team is my sole cold comfort at the moment.
I know about "win some, lose some" but, man...we really lost that one.
I do not see the urgency to add to the rotation. Not right now, with Boomer coming. Maybe we can rid ourselves of Rudy and Julia........oh, that would be nice. Timmy is busy healing...he'll be back.
I'm with ya, Peter! And, might not be a bad idea to push K. Snyder to the pen. He could be the sorely needed "long-man" and allow us to dump the two NL re-treads that never belonged on our roster to begin with. Let's give Gabbard another start as well. Maybe a combo of he and Wells down the stretch is all we need.
Please do not trade for re-treads from the Phillies or give away our strong farm system.
So, the idea is that if we can't get a topline starter, we shouldn't bother with a Byrd or a Lieber? Makes some sense.
Or, may as well go for a reliever. Or even a bat?
I wonder if we're really making a run for Lugo. Doesn't seem to make much sense with Gonzalez AND Cora hitting pretty respectably.
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