Ugh

Last nights game at Oakland was about as frustrating to watch as we've seen all year. The team played ok defensively, and Moyer pitched well, but the team's approach at the plate was painful to watch.

The results, besides yet another loss on the road at Oakland include-
- Blanton's ERA against the M's is .77
- Against the rest of the league, over 8 runs a game!!
- The M's continue to lead the league in shutouts

For those that didn't watch the entire painful loss, the 9th inning summed it up perfectly. Ichiro leads off the inning with a single, and Beltre doubles to leave runners at 2nd and 3rd and nobody out. This leaves Jose Lopez at the plate, perhaps our most clutch hitter this season, ready to tie the game.

So what happens next? Lopez is grazed by the pitch and gets awarded first, taking the bat away from him. The pitch never even made human contact, it literally grazed the jersey poking out of his belly and I immediately felt like this benefited Oakland.

Ibanez procedes to swing away at two marginal pitches, fouling off both. Maybe one of them was a strike, but both were down low and would have likely produced exactly the ground ball Oakland was looking for. With the count 0-2, Ibanez then procedes to watch a ball, belt high and tailing right over the middle of the plate go on by for the first out.

The rest of the train wreck includes Sexson striking out on a ball at least 2 feet outside of the zone with a half swing, and Everett lofting a ball to Center on the first pitch.

I can't believe I actually thought this team might do well in Oakland.

I will never make that mistake again. Let's see if they can win one of the next two, and we'll call it a success.