Milton Bradley Has Game

The Bossman had a feeling before the beginning of the ALCS that Milton Bradley would figure prominently for the A's. Too bad he also didn't have a feeling that Bradley's contributions would also lead to the A's actually winning a game or two.

Bradley had a monster day yesterday. The volatile but charismatic right fielder went 4 for 5 with 2 long balls and 4 RBI. Eric Chavez also contributed a solo homer, and Mark Kotsay had a good day at the plate with three hits and two runs.

But the highlights of the game would almost all involve Bradley, who really kept the crowd in the game with his timely home runs, a fourth-inning chest thumping when the crowd saluted him upon his return to right field, long-ball jigs with Swisher and a clutch single in the bottom of the 9th. If only some of that energy could have been transferred to the Big Hurt's bat or Loaiza's psyche.

It was a rollercoaster day at the park, to be sure. Loaiza looked good out of the gate, throwing strikes, keeping his pitch count down and making fairly quick work of the Tigers lineup. But like Zito the other night, when he made a few mistakes, he couldn't hold it together and suffered what seemed like a mental collapse in the fourth.

To be fair, the A's defense was about as reliable as a PG&E technician scheduled for an afternoon appointment. D'Angelo Jimenez should really get 10% of Mark Ellis' next contract for making it so glaringly obvious how much Ellis flawless defense is worth. And even our gold Glove third baseman flubbed an admittedly tough ground ball to the gap between short and third.

And so, as we head into Game 3, the A's have failed precisely where one thought they would thrive -- defense and pitching. It's odd to see the bats cracking and the A's not coming out on top. Here's to hoping that Harden and Haren can turn that around and silence the thunderous (underground) crowd in Detroit.