Bob Geren does not belong with the name Albert Einstein, but he does have something in common with him. That is Einstein's definition of insanity, which is doing the same things over and over again expecting a different result.
Well, for the Oakland A's and their bullpen, Geren continues to make the same errors in decision making or in some cases the lack of decision making process. Tonight's another perfect example of Geren's insanity.
Craig Breslow came into pitch and I have no problem with Breslow being used in the eighth inning as long as he doesn't have to face a powerful right handed bat. He got Erick Aybar a switch hitter batting right handed on flyball to right.
Howie Kendrick was the next batter in the inning and he gave ball a good ride to right center field. If the A's outfielders hadn't been playing deep it could have been trouble, but Coco Crisp easily made the running catch.
Bobby Abreu came to the plate and he hit a soft groundball to Cliff Pennington that he had to make a tough play on and wasn't able to get Abreu at first. Next up, Torii Hunter, a dangerous aggressive hitter.
The kind of hitter that no manager should want their left handed pitcher to be facing in a situation where if Hunter takes Breslow deep. Geren did have Curt Young the A's pitching coach go out to talk with Breslow.
That didn't work out so well because Hunter unloaded on a pitch and took it opposite field for a line shot over the right field fence. The game goes from being tied at 3-3 to the Angels winning 5-3.
Luckily for the A's they made a comeback of their own and tied the game up 5-5, but imagine if Geren actually did what he is paid to do! Would it have been a reasonable decision to bring in a right hander to face the aggressive Hunter? Absolutely!
Of course this isn't the first time that Breslow has been taken deep by a right handed bat in a close game either.
The next lack of a decision came in the top of the 10th inning. Instead of relieving Andrew Bailey, Geren left him in to go two innings. Still the move was questionable at best.
It's understandable that Geren wanted to get Bailey some work after all he hadn't pitched since July 4, but one inning should have been sufficient. Considering that the A's have two more games to play against the Angels and the games are normally very close.
What's even worse though is that the A's could have built momentum going into the all-star game if they had swept the Angels who had been struggling of late. The A's were 41-45 coming into the game and the Angels were 46-42.
Meaning that the A's were four games back at the start of tonight's game if they had won the A's could have been only three games back of the Angels for second place in the American League West.
Instead the A's are now five games back and can only hope to win the next two games of the series and be three back when the A's had a chance of being only a game back at the break.
Tonight's just another example of just how bad a manager Geren is. There's no excuse for the way he manages a game and furthermore, how he has kept his job for so long is beyond any A's fans comprehension.
Yes, Geren's General Manager Billy Beane's best friend, but there comes a point in time where Beane has to man up and fire his best friend. At the all-star break would be a great time to do it.
Also, along with Geren hitting coach Jim Skaalen can go too!
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