This is disappointing. Travis Buck is going to have season-ending elbow surgery.

One of the few bright spots on the A’s this year, Buck fit into the team nicely by not being able to stay healthy. Let’s hope this is a one-time thing we can get 140 games out of him next year. The last thing this team needs is more injury-prone players.

(Oh, and Eric Chavez and Mark Kotsay are officially out for the remainder of 2007 too, but we already knew that.)

@

Tonight the A’s open up a three-game weekend series with the Tigers.

(Side note: I’m glad this isn’t the first time the A’s have faced the Tigers this year, because we don’t have to hear about “revenge.” Oh yeah, I’m sure the A’s were really felt good to win that first season series since the Tigers beat them in the ALCS! You know what? If you stabbed me in the chest, and I slapped you in the face, I wouldn’t consider that appropriate revenge.)

The A’s lead the season series with the defending American League champions 4-3. Detroit has been sputtering, coming off a series loss to the Royals. They find themselves 4.5 games behind AL Central leader to kick off September, and are looking up at the Mariners in the Wild Card as well. The A’s would love to play spoiler, though they’ve lost five out of their last six.

Tonight, 7:05 p.m. PDT: Virgil Vasquez vs. Joe Blanton
Vasquez got the callup after Andrew Miller was sent down yesterday, and he’ll try to beat the A’s and either Good, Bad, or Mediocre Joe. I think the A’s can win with Good or Mediocre Joe, but you never know with unknown commodities like a kid going for his third major league start.

Saturday, 1:05 p.m. PDT: Justin Verlander vs. TBD
The A’s haven’t announced a pitcher for Saturday. Why not? You know who will be on five days rest on Saturday? Someone named Dan Haren. He’s not scheduled for Sunday, so what’s going on here? Why hasn’t he been announced? I would expect him to be slotted in here and take on the Tigers’ ace in an on-paper pitching duel that will probably turn into a real-life slugfest.

Sunday, 1:05 p.m. PDT: Nate Robertson vs. Chad Gaudin
The final game of the series features two guys who would like to turn around their second halves. Gaudin has had a couple of good starts his last two times out, so hopefully he’ll keep it rolling here.

Go A’s!!!

Today is an off day, so here are some things that are on my mind today:

1. Everywhere I read, speculation is that the A’s are in for a major overhaul this offsesaon. Joe Blanton’s name has already been out there since the non-waiver trade deadline. So has Huston Street’s. And in the past week I’ve seen Eric Chavez’s name brought up as a possible trading chip, most recently today on Buster Olney’s ESPN.com blog:

Because Chavez’s salary represents between 10 and 12 percent of Oakland’s entire payroll, he is something of an albatross to the Athletics. It makes sense for them to move him.

But he would be a very nice luxury item for a large-budget contender — he bears some risk, but he’s not outrageously priced, has loads of big-game experience, and is known as a good clubhouse guy. He would make a lot of sense for the Dodgers, in their never-ending quest for a third baseman; for the Yankees, if Alex Rodriguez decides, in the end, to opt out of his contract; or the Red Sox, if they want an alternative to giving Mike Lowell a three-year deal.

Emotionally, it’s a sad thought, as Chavez is our longest-tenured A and has been a joy to watch at third base over the years. Who’d be the longest-tenured A then? Mark Ellis, with his April 9, 2002 A’s debut.

But of course, the payroll flexibility would be huge. What would the A’s do with it? My mind spins at the possibilities. Lock up the afore-mentioned Ellis in his vastly underrated glory? Use it to go get a real shortstop? Save it for the eventual raises Travis Buck and Kurt Suzuki will earn?

At this point, I say if it can be done, do it. It feels sad the further we get away from the 2000-2003 teams, but this team isn’t going anywhere but down in its current state.

2. The Esteban Loaiza departure kind of goes together with#1. A couple of things here:

a) I was wrong in my statement yesterday when I said the A’s would be off the hook for $8.5 million of E-Lo’s salary. Really, they’re only saving about $6 million, as they will still owe him his $1 million signing bonus.

b) One speculation that came up in light of the move yesterday was that there may be a “goodwill” deal between the A’s and Dodgers this offseason. Perhaps the teams made a verbal agreement that they will make a deal this winter that favors the A’s.

The more I read about it and think about it, I think I’ll feel like the A’s got hosed if there is no swap between those two teams this offseason. Could it be that whatever snagged the Joe Blanton talks at the trade deadline won’t snag it and the deal will go through? Could it be something involving Chavez? Could it be something small-scale? Could A’s fans be getting their hopes up for nothing? I can’t wait til December to find out.

3. Loaiza’s departure also opens up another spot in the rotation. Colby Lewis was called up to take his spot, but will it really be him who takes the ball Saturday against Detroit? What about Dallas Braden, he of the 17-strikeout performance in AAA this week? Or will Dan Meyer get another shot?

What puts a wrinkle into plans for a month-long fifth starter tryout is the PCL playoffs. The Rivercats are one win away from a division title, so the A’s might be inclined to let them keep their good pitchers as they make their playoff run. We all know the A’s don’t have that luxury, so why not let the kids make a run at it?

4. If your team has only won one game in a row, can it be considered a streak? I say yes. It says “W-1″ under the streak column in the standings, so it has to count.

Enjoy the off day and our current winning streak.

Huston Street couldn’t get it done today. But luckily for the A’s, their temporary third baseman was capable of notching a save to halt the team’s losing streak at five and avoid a sweep by the Blue Jays.

Roy Halladay went the distance in a no-decision, even though the A’s mustered four runs off Toronto’s ace. Considering he had a 1.71 ERA versus the A’s in 10 career starts, that alone was pretty miraculous on the A’s part.

Lenny DiNardo even remembered his shamrock today. It was most evident in the second inning, when DiNardo walked three batters but didn’t give up a run. How many times has that happened in the history of baseball? I’m not sure where to look that up, but I’ll venture a guess and say it hasn’t happened very often.

But Street couldn’t seal the deal. First came a home run to Lyle Overbay. Then, a home run to Matt Stairs to tie it up. Kind of reminded me of a Jason Isringhausen attempted save back in 2000, only about ten times less awful.

Anyway, it looked like we were going to have a repeat of Monday, with another extra inning loss at home. Then, Marco Scutaro doubled with two outs in the 11th. But there were two outs. And what was that? That was a runner in scoring position. And this was the A’s. I don’t need to explain my lack of optimism here.

But Hannahan had other ideas, as he roped a single into the gap that easily plated Scutaro, and the A’s got to celebrate on the field with a walkoff win.

Hannahan actually has an 11-game hitting streak. When I read that in a game recap, I was pretty surprised. But the guy is putting up some solid numbers. Do I expect him to keep it up? No. But the third base job is his, likely through the end of the year, so it’s good to see him doing something with the opportunity.

A much-needed off day awaits our A’s on Thursday, and then they welcome the Motown Meow-Meows to town. Joe Blanton takes on Chad Durbin Friday night. An appearance of Bad Joe would get that ERA over four, so let’s hope we see some Good Joe this time. He’s potentially our biggest trading chip this offseason.

So, E-Lo is an A no mo’.

The Dodgers claimed him and his remaining $8.5 million (over this year and next) off waivers.

Some people are mad that the A’s didn’t get anything for him. But really - a 35-year-old journeyman pitcher who has only started two games this season after missing most of the year with injuries? That’s not going to net you much. Getting his salary off the books is good enough.. as long as they actually spend it on something else.

Fine move, in my opinion. Waiting until the offseason would not have guarenteed anything.

Another day, another loss for the Oakland A’s.

Another ninth inning, another too-late comeback attempt.

And now the A’s have to beat Roy Halladay this afternoon or be swept.

A six-game losing streak looms. Tomorrow will be much-needed off day.

Will the Loaiza-to-the-Dodgers rumors come to fruition before the calendar turns to September? Will Lenny DiNardo remember to bring his shamrock today? Will the A’s be no-hit by Doc Halladay? Stay tuned… and go A’s!!

It’s no secret that the A’s have been awful with runnings in scoring position this year. With a .243 batting average in those crucial situations, they are the worst in the American League. The only team that’s worse in the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks, and everything about that team is an oddity, so they don’t count.

It works logically for me like this:

Overall team batting average: .254
Batting average with RISP: 243 (worst in the AL)
Batting average with the bases loaded: .207 (worst in MLB)
Batting average with no one on base: .263

Therefore, it’s fair to conclude that the A’s do better when it doesn’t count than they do when it counts. The A’s lack clutchiness.

Such was the case in last night’s 6-2 extra-innings loss to the Blue Jays.

4th inning:

The 6th inning:

9th inning:

And those were just the chances they had to take care of business in regulation and keep it from going to extra innings.

Yes, Dan Johnson came through in the 8th when singled to center to tie drive in J.J. Furmaniak and tie the game at 2. I’m not ignoring that fact. But for the 1,856,994th time, the opportunities were there, and the A’s just did what they do best. They sucked with RISP… again.

There are three things I longed for while watching today’s game - Eric Chavez, Carlos Pena in an A’s uniform, and the days when B.J. Upton was still in the minor leagues.

With those three things, the A’s might have won this game. Instead, it was a sloppy 7-4 loss to put the finishing touches on a series loss to the Devil Rays.

I’d like to think Eric Chavez would have made that play that Jack Hannahan muffed in the 5th. With a runner on and one out, Hannahan threw wide at second base, trying to start the double play. What could have been an inning-ender turned into second and third with one out, and it opened the floodgates for a three-run inning.

And what’s gotten into Carlos Pena this year? He is finally living up to that potential that we A’s fans counted on back in 2002. It took him five years, two designated for assignments, and five teams to get it right. Now he’s slugging his way to the top of the AL home run leaderboards. Why can’t this be our guy?

And in addition to Pena, B.J. Upton’s presence makes the Devil Rays much better than they used to be. Exhibit A: his monster home run in the second inning. Exhibit B: his monster throw from center to gun down Jack Cust at the plate. Yes, B.J. Upton is good. And because of him, playing against the Devil Rays is harder.

Dan Haren tried. Six innings pitched, three earned runs, and 10 strikeouts is not a bad performance. But when your defense lets you down and the other team has two monsters who club home runs off you, what are you going to do? Twenty wins is likely impossible for our Cy Young candidate now, and without that magic number, he’ll have a hard time getting the award.

Hopefully some home cookin’ is what these guys need to get back on the right track and back to .500 and beyond. This upcoming homestand features three with Toronto and three with Detroit as we say goodbye to August and hello to September. And we’re not missing Halladay this time around.

Will Mike Piazza still be an A come Saturday? Will the A’s get back to .500 this week? And will Esteban Loaiza continue where he left off against A.J. Burnett tomorrow night? Stay tuned, and go A’s!!

I admit - even after yesterday proclaiming how glad I was the A’s were playing on a Saturday night instead of afternoon, I didn’t watch the whole game tonight. After about four innings, and with the A’s down 3-0, I opted to shut it off and watch Little Miss Sunshine with my hubby instead.

Can’t say I’m sorry I missed that 14-3 affair. I definitely chose wisely.

The Devil Rays scored more runs than Scott Kazmir struck out batters, but not by much. Kazmir fanned 13 A’s in eight innings en route to his 10th win of the season. And Joe? Well, Joe was Mediocre Joe tonight. He only gave up four of the 14, but his laboring throughout the early goings caused this to be a bullpen game, and well, it wasn’t pretty.

Tonight’s relievers’ lines:

Andrew Brown: 1 IP, 3 H, 2ER
Santiago Casilla: 1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER
Jay Marshall: 1/3 IP, 4 H, 5 ER
Kiko Calero: 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER

Over at Athletics Nation, they said Rob Bowen was actually warming up in the ‘pen late in the game. Yikes, that’s always an embarrassment. I’m glad we didn’t have to go there.

So the A’s are back to a game under .500. They’ve got one more game with the Rays to try and go home at .500, the way they rode into Tampa. Luckily we’ve got our ace, and they’ve got a guy named Andy Sonnanstine with a 2-9 record and a 6.53 ERA. Paper likes this matchup. Hopefully real life does too.

Go A’s!!

Unfortunately, the A’s were on the losing end of this one.

Lenny DiNardo pitched like what he was when the A’s claimed him off waivers before spring training - some guy I had never heard of. Six earned runs in two innings pitched was enough to put DiNardo - and the A’s - at .500.

On the bright side, Rob Bowen is hitting .348 after going 2-for-4 today. And this on the day that poor Adam Melhuse was designated for assignment by the Rangers. I always liked Adam, and felt he got a raw deal having to back up Mr. I-Get-Mad-If-I’m-Not-Playing. So I hope he finds another team and can still continue his career. But not with the A’s - our backup catcher is doing just fine.

Tomorrow it’s a Saturday evening game, which means MLB.tv won’t black it out for me! I’ve been really lucky with the scheduling this year. More and more teams seem to be going to Saturday night games instead of afternoon games, and that keeps big bad FOX from screwing with my A’s viewing.

Joe Blanton tries to remain Good Joe as he takes on Scott Kazmir. Let’s try to flip the 12-2 score back in the right direction.

Go A’s!!