Oakland currently has nine rookies on the big-league club, and Brad Ziegler is the most surprising success story among them.
At 28 years old, the submarine-style reliever has arrived in fine fashion. On Tuesday, he established an American League record for the longest scoreless streak at the start of a career, breaking Boo Ferriss' mark of 22 innings for the Red Sox in 1945. Ziegler has worked 23 1/3 innings and has yet to give up a run, the most zeros put up by a call-up in baseball history behind George McQuillan's 25 scoreless innings in 1907 for the Phillies.
"It's exciting to be at the top of a league record two months into my career," Ziegler said. "It's pretty crazy. But it's a tribute to the team. I rely on my defense. I don't strike guys out."
Carlos Pena almost ended the run in the eighth inning Tuesday when, with a runner at first, he hit a long drive down the left field line. The ball just tailed off foul as it neared the pole.
Ziegler said he thought Pena's ball was out initially and, he said, "I tell you, it wasn't a good pitch. ... He got a lot of it, but thankfully he was a little late."
Ziegler is nearing the A's longest scoreless streak ever by a relief pitcher, Rich Honeycutt's 24 1/3 innings from June 25-Sept. 14, 1995.
RAYS 4, A's 3: Oakland banged back-to-back homers in the second, solo shots by Emil Brown and Carlos Gonzalez, to take the early lead. But Tampa Bay hit back-to-back bombs, too, with Jonny Gomes hitting a two-run homer off Greg Smith with two outs in the fifth and Ben Zobrist hitting the next pitch out to right. Zobrist, the Rays' No. 9 hitter, added an RBI single in the seventh off Santiago Casilla.
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Okay, phew, we finally got through the losing streak; We are 9 GB of the seemingly unstoppable Angels. We are 6 GB of Boston for the Wild Card. We finish up with the Rays today, then we head back to face the Rangers and
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Sorry guys just got back from vacation, I visited my avatar.
0-3 versus the Yankees. This series reminded me of when I was playing Legion ball and we would travel into a much larger town, with a nicer ballpark, with bleachers and avid fans. Nothing is more intimidating than to be a young player, and walk into a rea
If he is not the next to go, he certainly will not be with the A's to end the season. Embree has a big $3+ million salary and is a veteran left-hander that can come in and get out a big bat when needed. I see this lefty headed to a playoff team within the next month.
Oakland isn't doing so bad this year, 7 games over .500 with Wild Card hopes, and a long shot at the division. So what do they do? Damage their chances by shipping off Harden to Chicago. Stupid move they are a contender this year (or were).
With the Oakland