A's save one for Gaudin after early power show

[BronxBomberz]

Chad Gaudin made the slow walk to the dugout in the top of the seventh Thursday, head down with hardly any display of emotion. Common body language for the right-hander, who wears the same expression whether he's throwing a no-hitter or getting tagged.
But you can bet Gaudin had some nerves going on the bench as he watched the rest of the seventh inning play out. The A's bullpen made life adventurous during a Texas Rangers rally that seemed to last forever.
Order eventually was restored, and the A's held on for a 6-5 victory in front of a smallish crowd of 16,240 at McAfee Coliseum.
That gave Gaudin (11-11), fighting through a turbulent second half of the season, his first victory in four starts.
But for a moment, it looked as if Gaudin might be the second A's starter in two days to lose out on a victory due to a blown lead. Dan Haren was in line for his 15th victory Wednesday night in Seattle until Alan Embree surrendered a game-tying homer in the eighth inning of an eventual loss.
Gaudin handed things over to Santiago Casilla with two runners on and no outs in the seventh Thursday, the A's holding a seemingly safe 6-1 lead.
Casilla allowed a two-run single to Frank Catalanotto. Then he plunked Ian Kinsler to put runners on first and second. Michael Young hammered a two-run double to right-center to make it 6-5, still with nobody out.
That sent A's manager Bob Geren to the mound, beckoning Ruddy Lugo.
Lugo stopped the bleeding. He retired Marlon Byrd on a groundout and Jason Botts on a popup. After walking Hank Blalock to put runners on first and second with two outs, he finally ended the threat by getting David Murphy to fly out deep to right. Gaudin turned things around after two shaky outings in which he allowed a combined 18 hits and 12 earned runs in 8 innings. His only blemish until the seventh Thursday night was a second-inning solo homer to dead center by Botts.
In six-plus innings, he allowed three earned runs and eight hits but struck out eight and walked just two.
He wasn't the only Athletic to bounce back Thursday.
Cleanup man Jack Cust, who had been mired in a 3-for-33 slump (.090) in September, got things rolling for the home team in the first when he ripped a two-run double to the gap in left-center.
An inning later, switch hitter Nick Swisher drilled an opposite-field two-run homer to left-center off Kevin Millwood for a 4-1 lead. It was the 20th homer of the season for Swisher.
He finished 2-for-4 with a walk and did not strike out for the third straight game. Before that, Swisher had struck out 20 times in his previous 11 games.
The A's padded their lead to 6-1 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Marco Scutaro and a double by Jack Hannahan that glanced off the glove of Murphy in deep center.
After escaping the drama in the seventh inning, Lugo pitched a scoreless eighth. Huston Street took over in the ninth and pitched a perfect inning for his 15th save.
Rookie first baseman Daric Barton marked his first major league game at the Coliseum by going 2-for-5 with a double and two runs for the A's. He's hitting .353 (6-for-17) in four games since being called up Monday.

How they scored

A's first: Stewart singled. Barton grounded into fielder's choice, Stewart out. Swisher singled, Barton to second. Cust doubled, Barton and Swisher scored. A's 2, Rangers 0.
Rangers second: Botts homered to center. A's 2, Rangers 1.
A's third: Barton doubled. Swisher homered to center, Barton scored. A's 4, Rangers 1.
A's fifth: Cust walked. Ellis singled, Cust to third. Johnson struck out. Scutaro hit a sacrifice fly, Cust scored, Ellis to second. White pitching. Hannahan doubled, Ellis scored. A's 6, Rangers 1.
Rangers seventh: Saltalamacchia singled. Vazquez doubled, Saltalamacchia to third. Casilla pitching. Catalanotto singled, Saltalamacchia and Vazquez scored. Kinsler was hit by a pitch, Catalanotto to second. Young doubled, Catalanotto and Kinsler scored. A's 6, Rangers 5.

Inside Bay Area - A's save one for Gaudin after early power show

[Providence A's]

FYI, you're not supposed to post entire articles...and what's the point when there's no opinion or anything from a poster? I could just go to any site and read the summary of a game...

[BronxBomberz]

Let's just say, Texas is whooping yall on the bottom 3rd inning.

[Providence A's]

wtf does that have to do with what I said?