Although it didn't come out in the order I had predicted, the A's still finished the week with a 4-2 record good enough to put them in a tie atop the AL West with the Texas Rangers at 22-21.  Oakland ended up sweeping the Mariners but then went on to drop 2 of 3 to the Giants.

In game 1 of the Seattle series, Oakland came out swinging, scoring 12 runs on 16 hits, and went on to win 12-6 as Joe Blanton once again upstaged King Felix, giving up only 2 runs over 7 innings.  In game 2, Barry Zito continued his hot streak as he went 7 innings while giving up no runs.  In game 3, the A's got another solid pitching performance, this time coming from Kirk Sarloos and the bullpen.  Sarloos went 6 2/3 innings while giving up only 1 earned run.

In comes Barry Bonds and the media fiasco.  In game 1, Dan Haren came out and shut down Bonds and the Giants as he threw 8 innings of shutout ball and Huston Street came in to earn the save with a perfect 9th.  In game 2, Barry got 714 in his first AB and the Giants went on to win 4-2 with 2 runs off of Kiko Calero in the top of the 10th.  The A's bats remained quiet as they lost 6-0 in game 3 as Matt Cain threw a one hit shutout.

What I liked last week:

---  Oakland starting pitching dealing.  No Oakland starter, with the exception of Joe Blanton in the final game of the Giants series, went fewer than 6 2/3 innings and gave up more than 2 earned runs in any start last week.  With the Oakland offense still struggling and with all the injuries, the starters will need to pick up the slack and they did a wonderful job last week.

---  Team getting a little healthier.  Eric Chavez and Frank Thomas were both back in the lineup to finish the week.  Their bats were sorely missed during their dry spell last week and with games vs. offensive powerhouses (CWS and TEX) this week, their bats will be a welcome addition.  Also, both Esteban Loaiza and Rich Harden are starting to throw off the mound again with Loaiza being a little ahead of Harden in terms of returning to Oakland, both are at least a couple of weeks away.

---  Bats getting a little warmer.  Mark Kotsay led the way last week as he went 10 for 25 (.400) and Jay Payton wasn't far behind as he went 9 for 23 (.391).  Even Dan Johnson started to hit a little bit as he went 4 for 14 (.286) in the 4 games he started in last week.  As the bodies continue to heal the weather continues to heat up, I expect the A's bats to do the same.  These guys all have track records that suggest they are better than this and it's only a matter of time before the start hitting like they can.

What I didn't like last week:

---  Other than the fact that Kendall was in the lineup for 5 of the 6 games last week, tere wasn't too much that I didn't like.  I thought we played well and just ran into an unlucky game in game 2 vs. the Giants and an outstanding pitching performance in game 3.  Our bullpen may have let us down in game 2 vs. the Giants but they have been pretty steady overall considering all the injuries they have sustained.  Ellis did not play on Sunday and although they say he's day-to-day, that's a concern.

Up next for the A's:

Today they continue their marathon of 20 games in 20 days as they travel to Chicago to face the White Sox for a 3 game series followed by trip to Arlington for a 4 game series against our division rivals, the Texas Rangers.  This is going to be a tough week for the A's as both the White Sox and Rangers are playing well but I expect the A's to take both series'.  I expect Zito to win both of his games this week and I expect Haren to win his in game 3 vs. the Sox.  As for the Rangers, I still don't believe that they are contenders so I think the A's take that sereis.  How's 5-2 for the week sound?  See you guys next week.

Week 6 started and ended with wins.  The only problem, they lost the 4 games in between.  They dropped 2 of 3 to both the Blue Jays and Yankees and are now 18-19 and 1.5 games behind the Rangers.

In game 1 of the Toronto series, Dan Haren had another quality start going 7.1 while striking out 7 and allowing only 3 runs.  Huston Street gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th but managed to earn his 5th save of the year.  In game 2, Joe Blanton gave up 6 runs in the 1st inning and the A's were unable to overcome that deficit.  In game 3, Kirk Saarloos once again had problems as he gave up 8 runs (6 earned) over 5 innings as the A's lost 8-3.

Onto New York, where the A's got a good outing from Barry Zito in Game 1.  Zito, who notoriously struggles against the men in pinstripes, went 6 innings while only giving up one run but the A's lost as they were unable to plate any men against a sharp Chen-Ming Wang.  In game 2, Brad Halsey gave up 4 runs in the first 3 innings and the Oakland bats came up a run short once again.  In game 3, Dan Haren came out and threw a gem.  He threw a complete game and gave up only 1 run while stirking out 6. 

What I liked last week:

---  Dan Haren dealing.  He threw a combined total of 16.1 innings while giving up only 4 runs and striking out 13.  Those were two tough offenses he faced and with all the injuries to the staff, the A's need someone to step up and Haren is looking like that guy.

---  Bobby Crosby finding his stroke.  Crosby went 7 for 23 (.304) last week with a HR.  He still isn't driving in as many runs as I would like but at this point I'll take what I can.

---  Mark Ellis back in the leadoff spot where he belongs.  Ellis went 10 for 26 (.385) last week with 4 runs scored.  We need more production at the top of our order and Ellis is setting the table nicely.

---  Melhuse filling in nicely.  Melhuse went 5 for 15 (.333) with 2 HR's and 4 RBI while filing in for Jason Kendall during his 4 game suspension.  I personally would like to see more of this guy as I think Kendall is a joke and hopefully his performance has opened Macha's eyes.

What I didn't like last week:

---  The injury bug still biting.  Eric Chavez was hit with a bacteria infection and was only able to DH in Saturday's game vs. the Yankees.  Justin Duchscherer was sent to the DL.  Frank Thomas is day-to-day with a strained quad.  Joe Kennedy is questionable with a strained bicep.  And no one who is currently on the DL (Harden, Loaiza, and Bradley) came off the DL.  This team needs to get and stay healthy soon or they will be in a season long struggle to get back to the top of the division.

---  "Un"-Clutch hitting.  I wrote last time on how the A's batters were struggling to drive in runs and the problem continued last week.  The A's stranded 26 runners in the Toronto sereis.   In the 2nd game of the series we lost by 2 and stranded 11 while Toronto stranded only 2.  We stranded 23 in the Yankees series.  In game 2 of that sereis, we lost by 1 and stranded 13 runners vs. the Yankees 7.  I don't know what the problem is as we averaged 9 hits per game last week, we just aren't getting the hits when we need them.  Hopefully are guys are just getting unlucky right now.

Up next for the A's:

On Tuesday, the A's open up a 6 game homestand and a run of 20 straight games without a day off with a 3 game series against the Mariners followed by the opening of inter-league play with a 3 game series against the Giants.  You know that I always have high expectations of this team, whether they're struggling or not, and I expect them to come out of this week with no less than a 4-2 record.  If all our guys were healthy, I'd expect 5-1 or 6-0 but with all our injuries and health concerns, 4-2 will do.  See you guys next week.