The Athletics beat the Mariners yesterday. That’s not a huge surprise (especially with the game being in Oakland). They only allowed 2 runs – also not a huge surprise. The A’s themselves scored 9 runs though, which is a bit unusual. This was a team whose offense was one of the worst in baseball in the first half of the season. Since the All-Star break though, the team has been raking:
First half: .233/.299/.337
Second half: .271/.338/.434 (not counting the 9-2 win, so it’s even better)
They hit 50 home runs in their first 92 games, and have 42 in 45 games since, and now rank 21st in the majors offensively overall (which still isn’t good, but they’re much closer to average than last place at least). Beyond the power, the team is also walking a bit more (also K’ing more) and has seen a huge jump in batting average on balls in play (.270 to .313).
Take a look at some of the individual improvements in OPS:
| First Half | Second Half | |
| Kurt Suzuki | .633 | .808 |
| Jemile Weeks | .714 | .764 |
| Cliff Pennington | .591 | .905 |
| Josh Willingham | .736 | .905 |
| Coco Crisp | .707 | .729 |
| David DeJesus | .643 | .771 |
| Hideki Matsui | .617 | .850 |
| Conor Jackson | .626 | .698 |
| Team | .636 | .773 |
They A’s pretty much upgraded as a unit from being Yuniesky Betancourt to Carlos Lee, which isn’t too shabby.
The improved hitting has not unexpectedly resulted in more run scoring; 3.4 runs per game in the first half to 5.1 runs per game in the second half (only two teams – the Red Sox and Yankees – have scored more than that in the season as a whole). That’s allowed the A’s to improve their record from 39-53 to .500 at (now) 23-23. This despite the pitching staff’s ERA going from one of the best in baseball at 3.13 to one of the worst at 4.84. If they could combine the 3.13 ERA with the 5.1 runs per game then they could finish the year on quite a roll – and getting to .500 for the season isn’t completely out of the question.
Also last night: Justin Verlander picked up win number 21 as the Tigers dominated the White Sox 8-1; Carlos Beltran went 4-4 with a homer to move the Giants passed the Diamondbacks; Derek Holland the Rangers shut out the Red Sox 10-0 as Ian Kinsler, David Murphy and Elvis Andrus all went yard; and much more.
What to watch tonight: Tom Milone makes his major league debut for the Nationals against the 12-5 (!) rookie Dillon Gee and the Mets; Cole Hamels takes on Ricky Nolasco in Florida; and Ian Kennedy faces off against Tim Lincecum as the Giants try to claw back towards first place. Full schedule with probable pitchers here.
