Oakland Athletics: What to Take from the Minnesota Twins Series

Series Recap

The offensive woes continued for the A's on Friday, as a single run failed to hold up in the 2-1 loss to the Twins. Brett Anderson cruised through 7.2 innings before being touched up for two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Despite similar offensive sputtering on Saturday, the A's found a way to beat the Twins 1-0. Gio Gonzalez pitched six strong, and Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes combined to pitch three shutout innings. The offense "exploded" in the Sunday finale as Hideki Matsui and Josh Willingham homered en route to a 5-3 win on the day, and the A's first series win of the year. The day saw Brandon McCarthy pitch a masterful 7.1 innings with five strikeouts. Although Jerry Blevins allowed two inherited runners and a monster shot from Jim Thome, Fuentes managed a one two three ninth for his third save.

Clearly this was the A's best series of the year. If we dig a little deeper, what is there to consider?

Starting Pitching

The starters were again, very very good. Anderson gave complete game effort in the Friday loss, Gonzalez, six and more than seven with only a pair earned from McCarthy. If the starting pitching can be consistent and avoid injury, the A's will be in very good shape for the rest of the year. In this series the starters combined to post a 2-1 record, in 21.1 IP with only four runs allowed.

Relief Pitching

The relievers had their best showing of the year, despite a limited number of appearances. Balfour and Fuentes combined well on Saturday to preserve the win for Gonzalez. Blevins struggled on Sunday but Fuentes recorded his third save in as many opportunities. All and all, the bullpen pitched 4.2 innings yielding only a single earned run. 

Defense

On paper, the A's did well, no errors. However, a few misplayed balls did not help the A's cause. Though I don't blame Daric Barton, a pair of hard grounders raced past him on Friday to allow the Twins to score the decisive runs. The pitch location is an important factor in the speed of the batted ball, but Barton would usually make at least one of the two plays. He has not yet been at his finest defensively this season.

Offense

Rarely would seven runs in a series lead to two victories, but A's are no normal team this year. The A's had multiple chances to add on in Friday's game and their failure to do so ultimately led to their loss. Given the same output on Saturday the A's chances looked grim, especially as the only run was plated on a throwing error,but somehow managed a victory. The team doubled their home run output and put up their third best offensive output of the season on Sunday. It is clear the offense is still not clicking, but it was good to see Landon Powell and Ryan Sweeney start and contribute on Sunday. In addition, Hideki Matsui appears to be pulling out of his slow start to the season.

Managing

Few managerial decisions were necessary in the Series, as the starters went deep. However the most grating, was the lack thereof in Friday's loss. Anderson began laboring in the eighth and it would have been prudent to have relievers prepared in a one run game. I  just can't help but fault Bob Geren for failing to take Brett Anderson out. Would the result have been different? Who knows, but Geren needs to learn to manage the game and not wait for Billy Beane's instructions. This is a contract year for him and he must step it up, to earn an extension.

The A's somehow pulled out two victories. If the pitching continues, and the offense "starts," they could find themselves successful in Chicago.

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