A's Take Giants in Bay Bridge Series

After the Giants shut down the A's over at AT&T Park 2 weeks ago, the A's got their revenge vs. Timmy and Co. over the weekend.

The A's were on their game Friday night, dropping Giants ace Tim Lincecum's record to 5-6 on the year as he struggled through 6 innings allowing 10 base-runners to reach across the bay. He held the A's to just 6 hits and 3 runs while striking out 7, which is pretty close to his norm, but his era is climbing bit by bit to the point where he'll be approaching 4 by mid-July at this pace. Again, Lincecum has had these spurts throughout his young career, which has before caused some panic, only to have him revert right back to form after a few bad weeks. The most recent example would be last August when he went 1-4 I believe, but then look how darn nails he was down the stretch and into October for the Giants. He was the Tim Lincecum we all know and expect when it came down to it and I don't see any reason to believe that will be different this time around. He seems plenty healthy and energetic and just has been a little off in his last few outings. Wouldn't surprise me to see him now turn and go 5-0 with a 1.50 era and 60 K's in July, even with the break. He loves proving his haters wrong, as much as any professional athlete I've really followed and very much like that old Left Fielder that wore #25 in SF for 15 years.

The A's rookie journeyman, Geoff Godfrey, outduelled the 2-time Cy Young winner, and the A's finally got to serve a taste of their own medicine, shutting the Giants bats down cold. The Orange and Black collected just 6 hits and 2 runs in the 6 innings vs. Godfrey before being shut down by Andrew Bailey (who's finally back) and Brian Fuentes. The A's played like they needed to to win ballgames (pitch tremendously, limit mistakes and cash in on opportunity) and the Giants did what they'll do when they lose ballgames (offensive slump, impatience, rough defense). Only Cody Ross had 2 hits and a long home run, which weren't nearly enough in the end. The A's have to use this as some sort of catapult if they want to make any noise whatsoever in the AL West. If that sweep against at World Series caliber team doesn't jump start their engines, I don't know what will.... Finally, I'm happy they finally gave Jemille Weeks a call, and what has he done since arriving in Oakland? 16 hits in 44 at-bats (.364), 6 RBI, 7 Runs, 2 SB. I just don't know what took them so long to make the move, and I really hope they start looking down in the minors for help too. Young outfielders Jai Miller and Michael Taylor are ready for a shot in my opinion.