It was a great day to play baseball on a nice sunny Sunday as the West Cardinals came out strong against the A’s. Since it was the last game of the season for both teams before the playoffs, the pitching line up was a little different. In the 1st inning, the first among many pitchers took the mound for the A’s. He did not allow a run to score for the Cardinals. The A’s could have kept their first pitcher in the game but they wanted to rotate pitchers. The A’s scored first with a home run out of the park. So it was a 1-0 lead at the end of one. But the West Cardinals kept their cool. They got the lead right back with a three run homer. Their hitting was tremendous. There were barely any strikes as they connected on several pitches. You could just hear the sound the bats made. A few things did go well for the A’s. They had some diving catches in the outfield to hold the Cardinals in check. But that was not enough. Both teams changed their pitchers in the 2nd inning. As the West Cardinals extended their lead with another run scoring on a double giving the West Cards a 4-1 lead at the end of 3 innings.
In the 4th inning pitchers were switched again. The A’s did get walked a lot. One thing the West Cards had a hard time with was leaving too many players on base. But other than that, the West Cards played very well. Hitting continued to be great. They also made some outstanding catches when they needed them along with some key steals on the bases. The West Cards got another run to end the 4th ahead 5-1. But the A’s were not done yet. They got a few hits in the final innings to put players on base but were not able to bring them home. . The West Cards kept their cool with solid defense including a dramatic tag at home plate to secure their lead. In the 6th inning, the West Cards hit a two run homer to win the game 7-1.
After the game I talked with A’s manager. He said “It definitely was not our best game. We had a different pitching lineup than usual. We had some chances but we just lost it.” I also talked with the West Cardinals manager. He said “Our hitting went well. We had a lot of pitching depth. We left some players on base but overall it went well.” This was a good win for West Cards going into the playoffs with a regular season record of 6-3. The game was a good learning experience for the A’s as they prepare for the post season. The A’s ended their regular with a 6-5 record.
