Stranger in this town.
Where are all the good times?
Who's gonna show this stranger around?
Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.
Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.
Recaps:
* Lilly can't hold down former team - Fordin
The game-breaking blow came from a sabermetric hot potato: Bobby Kielty, traded to Oakland from Toronto, launched a two-run homer to provide the final lead change. It was personal redemption for Kielty, who hit the homer off Ted Lilly, the man he was traded for.
* Oakland bats help Hudson to win - Harrison
Tim Hudson allowed a rare home run, but his seven-inning stint was good enough for him to collect his fourth straight win.
Carlos Delgado's solo home run off Hudson in the second inning is the first long ball he's allowed in 13 starts. Hudson (11-4) had gone 96 1/3 innings and had faced 402 batters since Minnesota's Jacque Jones homered off him on May 8.
* Kielty gives the red-hot A's a lift - Ryan
In his major-league debut for the Jays, September call-up Russ Adams slammed a pinch-hit single in the ninth off A's closer Octavio Dotel.
"You can picture that moment a million times, but it's not the way it works out," said Adams, who might get his first start tomorrow. "It's just a little brighter than you expect."
Not a bad way to start ones career. Congratulations Russ! Hopefully we'll see a couple thousand more of those.
* Kielty clobbers former teammates - Canadian Press
A's rookie Nick Swisher, another player who gained fame through the book Moneyball, made his major-league debut. Fittingly, he walked in his first major-league at-bat and finished 1-for-3 with two walks. Before the game, he was forced to wear a batting helmet taped white with rookie written across the front. He was also fined $1,200 by his teammates for 12 violations listed in his locker, including ``having sideburns like Brady Anderson two years after they were fashionable." ... Moneyball author Michael Lewis took in the game.
* Athletics roll over the Jays - Rutsey
With the win the A's are on a 15-2 run and starting to dust the leg weary Anaheim Angels and Texas Rangers who are both getting a case of the staggers in their efforts to keep up in the West.
The A's are 4 games up on the Angels and 6.5 games ahead of the Rangers.
* Kielty burns former team - Millson
"I was struggling with my command the whole game, especially with my curveball," Lilly said. "I was searching for something to keep us in the game. That was a game that I really wanted to win, especially as hard as we worked against a pretty good pitcher. The same thing happened in my last outing [Aug. 28] against New York. We went out and worked hard and scored four runs against Kevin Brown [but the Yankees won 18-6].
"Again, to go out there tonight like the guys did and battle and score four runs off Tim Hudson, as an opposing pitcher you can't ask for too much more than that. So it's frustrating to give up that lead."
Notes:
* Crozier makes the show - Fordin
Should Delgado leave via free agency, Crozier is seen as a potential part of the solution.
Ricciardi said that that scenario is getting way ahead of things. Like Crozier, Russ Adams and Guillermo Quiroz aren't coming up for an extended audition. It's more like a college kid auditing a class, seeing how they measure up with the rest of the students.
* Blue Jay Watch - Rutsey
There's more to Kerry Ligtenberg's bothersome left hip than irritation.
"I've got arthritis in there, I'm getting old," Ligtenberg said last night. "It's something that's been bothering me for three months."
"When we were in Baltimore (where Ligtenberg used to pitch) their pitching coach (Elrod Hendricks) asked me if anything was wrong? He said I was low, was something funny with my back?"
Even with the touch of arthritis Ligtenberg said he isn't thinking of shutting it down for the season, that he'd like to try to rest and see if he can come back and finish on an encouraging note.
* Today's Game - Batista faces 'Cy Young favorite' Mark Mulder. Game time is 4:05 pm.
Hopefully the media realizes that Johan Santana has been the best pitcher in the AL this season.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040904100946999