Feast of a Famine

The A’s started another lefty yesterday, and the White Sox lineup managed all of five hits and a run. But it was enough to win 1-0 when Chase Meidroth doubled in Colson Montgomery for the game’s only run in the sixth inning. For what it’s worth, three righthanded hitters collected all five hits—oddly, three of them doubles—for the Sox. So, I guess this is a good thing. Now, for two tips of the cap in recognition of players I usually say little nice about, starting with Erick Fedde. The veteran righthander ditched the Houdini routine with four shutout innings during which he gave up just two hits and a walk. The 33-year old Fedde is 4-1in his last seven games with a 2.64 ERA over 30.2 innings. You can’t argue with that. Or the way Luisangel Acuna has been playing, for that matter. Acuna six for his last eleven? Yup. But wait, there’s more. The ex-Met (how are you guys enjoying the non-production of Luis Robert Jr.?) has been playing mean defense at shortstop. Yesterday in the top of the eighth with the tying run on third, nobody out and the infield in, Acuna snared a 104.2 mph grounder off the bat of Tyler Soderstrom for the out. I’m not sure that Colson Montgomery makes that play, and I mean no disrespect to Montgomery. If Acuna can keep hitting, his glove and his speed become all the more valuable. One more game before the All-Star break, and the A’s are starting a righthander. This is when good teams pounce.