GameDay: Don't Give Up On Resilient A's Yet
CBS 5 Sports Director Dennis O'Donnell hosts "Gameday" every Sunday night at 11:30pm on CBS 5 and offers his unique sports analysis here.
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) - Laughing, joking, and enjoying their moment in the spotlight. No, I'm not talking about Mitt Romney. He's tied with two debates to go.
My reference is to the Oakland A's who are two games in the hole. You'd never know it inside their clubhouse Monday. You won't get any "backs against the wall" quotes out of this group. Pressure? What pressure?
Sunday night's game two ended with Detroit reliever Al Alburquerque snagging a comebacker, and kissing the baseball before throwing it to first base for the final out. The kiss was seen as a classless act by some A's player.
But Jonny Gomes put it into perfect perspective Monday. "One of our ace pitchers, Brandon McCarthy, was in the hospital and had brain surgery, our other guy, Bartolo Colon tested positive for steroids, our starting third baseman blew his knee out on the first drill of spring training. Some dude kissing a ball in between the lines isn't going to bum us out at all. We'll let the baseball Gods handle it." Gomes sounds really stressed out to me, doesn't he?
The A's lost two games in Detroit, both of which they could have won. They never go quietly because quiet isn't in their make-up. Four teams have come back from a two-nothing deficit in the best-of-five division series and the A's can certainly be the fifth.
I suppose I'm selfish in saying that I want the A's season to continue. Like a bottle of Duckhorn merlot, it gets better by the day. The rallies, the plots, the subplots and the pies.
The latest subplot? Ace Brett Anderson will pitch for the first time in 20 days since suffering an oblique muscle injury against Detroit. There's no question he's got the best stuff on the staff, but what kind of stuff will it be following a three week break? The first two innings should be a good indicator. If he gets through the Tigers line-up with good control, he'll be lights out. If not, you can turn out the lights.
As closer Grant Balfour put it best. "Was Brett meant to be on the mound to save us? I've had crazy thoughts like that this year and it wouldn't surprise me at all if he did it.
Enjoy the moment A's fans. But don't kiss it goodbye just yet.
See you on TV.
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