Tremendous effort from Santana tonight. Whatever he worked on over the all-star break, it worked. He worked down in the zone and was throwing strikes (albeit to a big zone). He took advantage, and except for a hiccup in the sixth, he was strong throughout. I especially liked the mental toughness. Maybe there's something to the conversations with Escobar. He was in trouble often allowing the leadoff runner to reach numerous times. All but once, he was able to work his way out of it.
Total team effort tonight, as the offense picked the kid up in the bottom of the sixth. That's really great to see. Magic man gave it all he had, and when he needed the help, the bats came through. Nice to see Cabrera step in and contribute. Look, we're stuck with the guy, so dammit, I'm gonna root for him when he's in there. Santana responded by working a very strong seventh before turning it over to 'ol rubber arm in the 8th. Getting those runs back had to be a big confidence builder.
Of course, genius that I am, I decided to sit Ervin this week, despite his two starts, in favor of a number of guys, notable Dave Williams, who got drilled by the Astros tonight. Then again, Santana goes against the Yankees on Saturday, who have been mashing lately, so maybe it wasn't such a bad decision. We'll see.
These games with the A's certainly aren't make or break, but they are big. It would be really nice to cool them off a bit and open a little more daylight during this rough stretch in the schedule. The key was not getting swept, and they accomplished that tonight. Tough matchup tomorrow against Harden. Lots of pressure on Wash, and it's at home, so that's not a good sign.
These game
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