The A’s face the Angels in Anaheim, a good test for both teams.

Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito against Bartolo Colon, Jarrod Washburn, and Kelvim Escobar.

Angels starters John Lackey and Ramon Ortiz, who have ERA’s over 10 are being spared this weekend.

Arthur Rhodes gets to see if he can close out the righthanded power of the Angels, while Troy Percival and company will be ready for the A’s and Jermaine Dye.

Tim Hudson got an extra days rest because he went nine against Seattle last Saturday.

Bartolo Colon hasn’t been tagged at all this season, so this is a good test to see if he can withstand the first pressurized series between these two teams.

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Not much was decided between the White Sox and the Royals Wednesday other than the fact that neither team has a closer that can be relied on when the game is on the line.

Jon Garland acquitted himself quite well over the first six innings of the game before losing his spot in the seventh when Benito Santiago and Carlos Beltran took him deep cutting his lead to 6-5.

For five innings Garland looked like a more than decent third starter and that’s good news for Chicago.

On the other hand, Jeremy Affeldt is nowhere near the pitcher that KC needs to win this division. Affeldt is all over the place with his curveball and can’t command his fastball either.

Both teams can hit. Beltran can be an MVP, but only if this team develops some pitching.

Now the closers. Curtis Leskanic doesn’t have the stuff to get big league hitters out on a nightly basis (Mike MacDougal is still out). Billy Koch is a disaster every time he steps on the mound. Seeing Koch give up homers to Beltran and Sweeney, the latter giving the Royals a short lived 9-8 lead in the ninth, was painful.

Cliff Politte should be given the closers role before Koch destroys another good pitching performance.

The AL Central is wide open until someone comes up with a bullpen, then watch out.

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The Angels have the formula down for beating the Mariners. See how many runs Seattle can score early in the game, then let the big bats clobber the either the Seattle starter or the out of shape Mariner bullpen.

One thing I like about Vladimir Guerrero is his smile. It seems every time the slugger comes through with a big hit or scores an important run, his face lights up.

Last night Rafael Soriano continued his spring training session in the majors with another loss, his second of the year.

Scott Shields, who should be in the rotation, Francisco Rodriguez, and Troy Percival ended the game in fine fashion for Anaheim.

Tonight Freddy Garcia who pitched extremely well in his first start against the Angels goes against Ramon Ortiz, a pitcher the Angels would love to trade.

The A’s got timely hitting and a big out from Chad Harville to hang on against Texas.

What’s up with Barry Zito?

Is it focus? Arm strength? Who knows, but this pattern of his not being able to consistently make an important pitch when he needs it, is getting old.

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Tim Hudson is looking very good. Unbelievable, Hudson’s major league record is now 81-33.

We are talking Whitey Ford, Spud Chandler, Pedro Martinez winning percentage right now for Hudson.

This man can pitch and should be resigned this season before his contract runs out in 2005. I wouldn’t wait around.

The Mariners are struggling and can’t get the big hit or the right pitch when the game is on the line as they fell to 0-5 Saturday.

Just as Rafael Soriano showed he needs more spring training on Friday, Eddie Guardado’s debut Saturday indicated that the lefty’s velocity is not where it should be right now.

Marco Scutaro continued his magic weekend, driving in the tying run and playing major league defense in the field.

It’s too early to determine just where Scutaro will be in a month when Frank Menechino and Mark McLemore are back, but for the first week of the season, Scutaro is a major reason the A’s are 4-1.

The Angels were pounded by Texas again Saturday.

What does it mean?

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THE SHOULDER injury to A’s second baseman Mark Ellis not only has affected the A’s infield defense but also has had a profound impact on the batting order.

A healthy Ellis would have been batting seventh behind either Eric Karros or Scott Hatteberg. Now, rookie Bobby Crosby has been moved up to the seventh spot, a place where the rookie has some pressure to drive in runs while he gets acclimated to the big leagues.

With light-hitting Damian Miller hitting behind Crosby in the eighth hole, then utility man Marco Scutaro following, the trio went 2-for-27 in the opening series against Texas.

That’s not good for an American League offense. Looks more like the end of the Brewers lineup in the NL.

Here’s the rest of my Oakland Tribune “Batter Up” column that appeared on April 10th.

Click below!

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Seattle has been a force in the AL West over the past few years because of its excellent bullpen and stellar defense.

After watching last night’s game in Oakland, one the Mariners gave away following a dramatic four run seventh inning rally that catapulted them to a 6-4 lead, it became painfully obvious that Randy Winn is not to close to replacing Mike Cameron as a centerfielder and Rafael Soriano is nowhere near being in pitching shape for this season.

The A’s are a hungry team being carried offensively by Bobby Kielty, Eric Chavez, and Jermaine Dye.

Chad Bradford didn’t have his usual stuff last night, neither did Ricardo Rincon. Chris Hammond had a great changeup and Arthur Rhodes simply blew Seattle away for his third save.

A’s bullpen was better than Seattle’s and that turned the game when it mattered.

But the story for me was Winn and Soriano, two big parts of the Mariner puzzle.

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Yes, the season is one week old, and
most teams haven’t even gone into
their fifth starters yet, but belive me
I have seen the Angels and they
are for real.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

Fox Sports Radio’s Bay Area Correspondent George Devine, Jr. joined over 41,000 fans for a historic evening in San Diego.

Thanks George for a terrific first hand view of the opener in San Diego.
Marty

Click below for George’s story. [Read more →]

Vladimir Guerrero and company are swinging from their heels right now. They don’t come up to the plate looking to play small ball or hit the ball the other way.

They let the bats fly and are truly very scary. Troy Glaus, Garret Anderson, and Darin Erstad are nice and loose right now. The key may be David Eckstein who is healthy and getting on base.

Jarrod Washburn like Steve Trachsel for the Mets last night couldn’t hold the big lead, but the Angels held on to win once the bull pen got involved, opposed to the Mets whose bull pen got rocked by Atlanta.

The Rangers have a decent bullpen as they showed yesterday against Oakland. Francisco Cordero can close and the lefty Ramirez can get the tough lefthanders out.

The Rangers are very young offensively. A different team from last year when A Rod, Palmiero, and Juan Gonzalez hit 3-4-and 5.

Blalock, Soriano, and Teixeira need to grow into their roles and they will need a full season to do it, but this team is headed in the right direction for a change.

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Marty: Yesterday was Opening Day for many of the clubs. The Dodgers opened with a game in which they had 15 hits, 5 bases on balls and two runs in an 8-2 loss. This is a club which, for some strange reason, has been picked by media observers and some baseball fans for a first place finish. The emphasis seems to be on what is perceived to be a strong pitching staff. With the addition of Bradley they may have beefed up their hitting but their pitching is likely to be the unexpected, to the media and other misguided souls, Achilles heel. Weaver in place of Brown is not encouraging.
So much for the Dodgers and on to more important things.

Click below for Ed’s initial look at the 2004 baseball season.

Thanks Ed!
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