Ch-OAK-land ! A’s drop 2 of 3 to Chisox as promising season is now on the brink.

Nobody has been hotter in the AL West than the Chisox over the course of the past 10-15 games.  Conversely the Ch-Oakland A’s have gone into a deep swoon remincient of the 1964 Phils or 2007 Mets.  The A’s hoped to recapture lighting in a bottle in this 3 game set at home vs the Chisox.

GAME 1 – White Sox 5, A’s 4

Chuck Dobson had a 3 run lead and a good shot of winning the AL Cy Young until the Chisox unloaded for 4 runs off of him.  Dobson (5-2, 3.22) lost not only the game, but his chance for the coveted post season award all in one fateful inning.  It all started with Carlos May reaching first on a ball booted by John Donaldson at second.  Jorge Orta rocketed a double off the wall to put runners on 2nd and third.  Dick Allen showed extensive discipline at the plate working out a walk to load the bases.  Up came Ed Herrmann, who to this point has been the South Side’s MVP.  Herrmann worked the count to 2-1 and got a perfect hitters pitch, which he hit deep into the California night for a grand slam.  One pitch and boom the fate of the game turned.  Chicago trotted out an endless precession of relivers to stymie the A’s.  After Bart Johnson faltered early Goose Gossage threw 2 innings of middle relief to get the win.  Terry “Big Tub of Goo” Forster closed it out with two near perfect innings of relief to garner his 7th save.  Herrmann’s homer was his 10th of the season.

GAME 2 – White Sox 7, A’s 1

The Chisox renamed Catfish Hunter, Catf-ood Hunter as they southsider’s basically ate him alive.  Hunter was in and out of trouble fighting a lack of location as well as a lack of velocity (only 1 strike out over 7 innings).  Hunter yielded 12 hits and 5 runs over that stretch.  With that said he was only down 3-1 going into the 7th where the Chisox scored 3 and put the game out of reach.  Jim Kaat (5-5, 3.16) evened up his record with 7 innings of 4 hit/1 run ball.  Cy Acosta came on board for the final 2 innings.  The offense again relied on Ed Herrmann, who was 3 for 5 and hit his 11th homer of the season.  This one man has decided to take his team’s fortunes and carry them squarely on his able shoulders.

GAME 3 – A’s 6, White Sox 2

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  With their season now firmly on the brink the A’s went unconventional ad decided to start middle reliever Paul Lindblad (1,0, 2.70).  The rationale behind the decision was to get a lefty out there and neutralize Ed Herrmann, who has flat out been murdering right handed pitching.  At first Lindblad gave no evidence that the decision to start him was an intelligent one.  Chicago jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st.  Dick Allen hit a tape measure 2 run shot to score Bucky Dent who led off with a single.  At this point you could hear a pin drop in the  Oakland Coliseum.  Some life came back into the cavernous building when Reggie Jackson  crushed a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 2nd to make it 2-1.  For the next 2 and half innings Lindblad and Chicago starter Stan Bahnsen (3-5, 6.41) were posting goose eggs on the scoreboard.  Then in the bottom of the 5th the A’s put their season back on life support by posting 4 huge runs by knocking Bahnsen out of the box.  It all started out innocent enough with Jim Pagliaroni walking with 1 out and Lindblad striking out for the second out.  Bahnsen looked poised to get out of the inning real easy, but Campy Campaneris singled and moved to second on an error by Jerry Hairston in left.  That put runners on 2nd and 3rd instead of 1st and second.  John Donaldson lined a single to right to score both runners, which gave Oakland a 3-2 lead.  Danny Cater followed that up with a single of his own and  Reggie was walked intentionally to load the bases.  That set the stage for Sal Bando who lined a single right through the originator to plate Donaldson and Cater and give Oakland a 5-2 lead.  After getting 2 outs to start the 5th Lindblad’s day was over thanks to a 24 minute rain delay.  The spot starting lefty had done his job.  Ed Sprague got the final out of in the 6th as he battled  Bill Melton in a classic mano y mano 9 pitch at bat that culminated in a soft fly to Mike Hershberger in left.  Lew Krausse came on board to record the rare 3 scoreless inning save and keep Oakland somewhat alive.