Thought Washburn pitched well last night

I understand what Dave is saying at U.S.S.Mariner regarding Washburn's start last night, but I actually felt watching it he was pitching quite well. The difference between last nights starts and most of his starts was location- he absolutely was living on the edge of the strike zone all night long. He consistently was throwing borderline pitches and the umpire was calling them strikes. That will win you a lot of games in this league (e.g. Moyer).

Now some might argue that the A's offense helped out tremendously (by being so bad) but let's not forget his last start. He had a 2-1 lead over Santana and the Twins offense in the 7th inning. Certainly no one is going to argue the Twins have a poor offense.

Sure, the A's offense is bad but their pitching is very good. Last year we didn't win these games, and now we've gone on a mini-roll against our division rival.

I feel good any time we beat Oakland, especially in Oakland. Washburn pitched well his last two outings w/o Felix healthy, and has done a pretty good stepping it up. Will it continue all season, probably not.

I don't think we need to overthink this too much. No one is arguing Washburn is suddenly a #1 starter, but he did what needed to be done- he bailed out our poor offense by pitching well and relying on his defense.

Good job Washburn.