A's, Geren finally close deal, move into 2nd

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Sep 22, 2008 | by Joe Stiglich

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A's manager Bob Geren said he feels he has three legitimate options to close games in Joey Devine, Huston Street and Brad Ziegler.

With a one-run lead Monday night against the Texas Rangers, Geren went to Ziegler, even though the submariner had pitched four of the previous five games. Ziegler surrendered a game-tying homer to Hank Blalock in the ninth that forced extra innings before the A's scored in the 11th to nail down a 4-3 victory at Rangers Ballpark.

That's four straight victories, as they leapfrogged Texas and moved into second place in the American League West for the first time since July 24.

"It would mean a lot to us as a team," to finish second, starting pitcher Greg Smith said. "Especially the way we started the second half."

That battle for second provides a bit of drama for the A's final five games of the season. Some more intrigue is provided by Geren's choice of closer on a game-by-game basis.

He praised the recent work turned in by Devine, Street and Ziegler before Monday's game. Though Geren says he'd feel comfortable calling on any of the three, Ziegler remains his clear first choice and has been since early August.

Devine, who entered Monday with a 0.62 ERA in 43-2/3 innings this season, got the call for Sunday's victory over Seattle and notched his first major league save.

Street, who struggled for much of the season and was replaced as closer by Ziegler, has been terrific of late. He pitched a scoreless seventh Monday with two strikeouts, and Devine handled the eighth and protected a 3-2 lead.

But Blalock homered to left-center on a 2-1 Ziegler offering. It was just the second save Ziegler has blown in 13 opportunities this season.

Considering his recent workload, Zielger was asked if he felt fine when he entered the game.

"No," he answered frankly, "but I think any pitcher will tell you in the second half of the season they're kind of sore. It's the first time I've went this deep in the season before, but I felt good enough to finish it out."

Geren acknowledged his heavy use of Ziegler before the game but noted Ziegler had very low pitch counts in his last two outings before Monday.

In any case, the A's reclaimed the lead Monday with a run in the top of the 11th.

Cliff Pennington, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two stolen bases, led off with a double down the left-field line. After a one- out walk to Jeff Baisley, Travis Buck lined a single to right to score Pennington.

Santiago Casilla pitched the bottom of the 11th for his second save of the season.

The A's got a scare in the second inning, as catcher Kurt Suzuki was creamed by Chris Davis on a close play at the plate on German Duran's bases-loaded, RBI single. Aaron Cunningham's throw from left field beat Davis, but Suzuki turned to his left as Davis made contact. The A's catcher went down hard but held onto the ball.

More surprising was that Suzuki stayed in the game after he was attended to by head athletic trainer Steve Sayles for several minutes.

"He was OK after that," Geren said. "It was a bruise in the hip area. His head (was not affected)."

The A's also managed to break their franchise record for strikeouts in a single season. Fittingly, it was Jack Cust, who set the American League's individual strikeout record Friday notched the record-breaker by going down swinging in the 10th. That gave the A's 1,182, breaking the mark established by the 1997 team.

Contact Joe Stiglich at jstiglic@bayareanewsgroup.com.A'S 4,

RANGERS 3-- TOdAY: A's (Josh Outman 1-1) at Rangers (Dustin Nippert 3-5), 5:05 p.m. TV: Ch. 36. Radio: 106.9-FM, 1550-AM