I'm guessing this is not how Aaron Harang and his teammates wanted to start the road trip.
Harang was all over the place, walking eight in a little over three innings, and the A's picked up three early runs to cruise to a 3-0 victory behind Brandon McCarthy. A huge error by Tony Gwynn in center in the first was really the nail in the coffin, even that early.
After the Dodgers went down in order to start the game, Coco Crisp hit a bloop double between three men in left to get the A's going. Harang then walked Jemile Weeks before striking out Josh Reddick for one down.
Seth Smith then singled to center, and Gwynn badly misplayed the hop, allowing both runners to score and Smith to get to third. The "strikeout, walk" theme continued next, as Brandon "7 Year" Inge struck out, but Brandon "Randy" Moss walked to keep the inning alive. A single by Jonny Gomes made it 3-0.
That, my friends, was all McCarthy and his boys needed. The Dodgers' first hit came in the third on a single by Gwynn. A single up the middle by Andre Ethier in the fourth was the only other hit the entire night.
It's hard to say the Dodgers threatened to score at any point, but they did put a couple men on in the ninth. With new closer Ryan Cook in, Ethier reached with one out thanks to an error in center by Crisp. Bobby Abreu walked next. Then came James "Double Play" Loney... who grounded into the game ending DP. And he wonders why he doesn't play more. Give me a break!
I think we definitely should give McCarthy credit here. He was pitching for the first time in 11 days because of a sore shoulder, so it was obvious he was pumped to be out there again. He's really put it together the last couple of years, and has quietly turned into one of the best pitchers in the American League.
With that said, it's not like Harang gave his team much of a chance thanks to his wildness. I'm not sure what it was about the A's .225 team batting average (last in the majors) that intimidated him, but for whatever reason, he just couldn't get the ball over the plate. He lasted only 3 2/3 innings for three hits, three runs, eight walks, and six strikeouts. It almost was like watching Chad Billingsley out there, as he had a hard time attacking the hitters.
Granted, Gwynn's error in the first certainly didn't help, but eight walks is just crazy. Want to know what's even crazier? He threw an astronomical 105 pitches... and didn't even get out of the fourth. Wow.
One positive from this game was the work the bullpen. The combination of Jamey Wright, Scott Elbert, Todd Coffey, and Shawn Tolleson pitched the final 4 1/3 innings without allowing a run on only two hits. It's especially good to see Tolleson get a scoreless inning in, as he hasn't had much luck in his other two appearances.
Two more games are left in this series, and Nathan Eovaldi goes on Wednesday night. He has the ultimate oxymoron line thus far: 0-2 record/1.82 ERA in four starts. You would think he'd be due for a win at some point. Maybe he should give up more runs, which would then inspire the offense to go off. Or something like that.
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