Every day of the baseball season, MLB.com releases one game for free viewing, for the benefit of us spendthrifts who are too cheap to pay for either a cable package or a subscription to MLB.tv premium. Today's free game happens to feature the Oakland Athletics returning to their former haunting grounds of Kansas City to face the Royals. It's a fitting matchup, as the A's are currently embroiled in a legal battle with Major League Baseball for permission to make the franchise's third move in its 112-year history. I'll take this opportunity to examine each team's active roster, starting with the visitors:
1,000 fantasy points is an important milestone at the halfway point of the season, and the A's roster features three players who have reached it, one from each player category: starter, reliever, and position player. Bartolo Colon has turned into the improbable ace of this staff at age 40 and in the year after his 50-game suspension for PED use. Colon's been implicated in the Biogenesis scandal, so if that case is resolved before the end of the season, Oakland could be scrambling to find another starter on the waiver wire. Australian closer Grant Balfour has just tied Dennis Eckersley's franchise record for most consecutive saves, but he's long since broken the record for profanities uttered on the air. Josh Donaldson has been the biggest story of this offense, and while all three of these players have legitimate All-Star aspirations, the converted catcher might have the hardest road to New York, as he'll have to compete with such top hot cornermen as Miguel Cabrera, Evan Longoria, and Manny Machado.
For all Donaldson's brilliance, he trails speedy center fielder Coco Crisp by 1.0 PPG for the team lead in that column. Had Crisp not missed time with various injuries, his hot start would have definitely netted him an All-Star berth, if not a starting spot - we'll find out if he will be included in the festivities tonight at 6:30pm ET. Looking at the Pos 2 column, we can catch a glimpse of manager Bob Melvin's lineup construction strategy, as he uses the DH slot as a revolving door for his banged-up outfielders (and John Jaso, who may or may not be the player who unintentionally bared his unmentionables during a locker room interview with Josh Donaldson last month).
As Donaldson just gave the A's the lead with a solo home run in the top of the 6th inning, it's time to pause long enough for me to do some research into Kansas City's lineup. See you in a couple of innings!
Bottom of the 8th inning (1:30pm) - OAK 3, KCR 3
Turns out it took me about two innings to do the due diligence on the Royals, which is just as much time it took them to tie the game at 3. Here's how the third place team in the AL Central stacks up:
A quick glance at the all-important points column shows that KC has just two players past the 1,000 point barrier, and they're both pitchers: fellow surprising staff ace Ervin Santana and closer Greg Holland. Their big offseason acquisition James Shields and top offensive performer Alex Gordon are very close to the milestone with just under 20 and just under 50 points to go, respectively. Gordon just returned to action today after undergoing extensive concussion-related tests resulting from a crash into the outfield wall. Gordon actually started his career as a third baseman, but was shifted to the outfield after breaking his hand early in his career, and he's responded well to the positional shift.
Despite the impression that this team is constantly rebuilding, they are carrying only one rookie on their roster: outfielder David Lough (pronounced LOW) who takes the place of recently-DFA'd veteran Jeff Francoeur. I'm sure A's fans will be disappointed by his cut, as he has forged a relationship with Coliseum dwellers through his self-funded promotional day "Bacon Tuesday." In another roster shift, projected starting second baseman Chris Getz has been sent down in favor of youngster Johnny Giavotella, who tore it up in the Pacific Coast League last year (not necessarily a tough feat). However, neither he nor projected starting shortstop Alcides Escobar are in the lineup tonight, as they give way to former A Miguel Tejada and Elliot Johnson, respectively.
As Josh Donaldson fails to produce with a runner on base, we head to the bottom of the 8th inning with this game still tied.
End of the 9th (1:57pm) - OAK 3, KCR 4
So it goes: the Royals add to their league lead in come-from-behind victories, as a combination Yoenis Cespedes's failure to score from first on a two-out double early on and a costly Adam Rosales fielding error cost Ryan Cook and the A's the game. Rubber game tomorrow as this series is now tied at a game apiece, but I won't be able to watch it because MLB.tv's free game is the Reds hosting the Mariners in a historic "Ken Griffey-off". Now all we can do is watch the scoreboard and hope Erik Bedard and the Astros somehow keep Texas from pulling a half game ahead of the A's tonight.
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