Game 18: Explosion!

Well, the A's are going to need to learn some consistency.

They scored a season-high 13 runs against Kansas City last night,
although eight runs came in the eighth inning.

Chaud Gaudin pitched well, lowering his ERA to 4.76, and the A's beat
a hot team at home to end a three-game skid. Every A's offensive
starter got a hit, except Travis Buck. Three players got three hits
apiece: Emil Brown, Ryan Sweeney and Bobby Crosby.

But consistency is needed for the A's to truly be taken seriously.
They can't get shut down by Carlos Silva one night and then batter
C.C. Sabathia the next night. Or even Brian Bannister for that matter.

Some will argue these are the normal highs and lows for a baseball
team, but they don't have to be. Every athlete strives for consistency
in performance, and the ups and downs are just as maddening to them as
they are to the fans -- even more so, actually. It's a matter of
limiting the swings' range, in order to perform in line with
expectations and the rigor of a 162-game season.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose -- but it is what you do with
the close ones that matter, of course. This one? Wasn't close. Then
again, the A's are playing pretty close to their Pythagorean
expectation (and mine -- see below).

A's Record: 10-8
A's Should-Be Record: 11-7