One thing the A’s and Giants can agree on… Angel Hernandez is terrible. (Ed Szczepanski – USA Today Sports)

After the A’s had blown a 3-0 lead, and trailed 4-3 (more on how all that happened later) going into the 9th inning.  After Indians closer Chris Perez, another public enemy of the Athletics fans, made Josh Donaldson look silly striking out, and induced a weak grounder from Daric Barton, Adam Rosales strode to the plate as the last glimmer of hope for the Athletics to attempt to salvage a split in Cleveland.  Rosales drove a 1-1 fastball from Perez towards the high wall in left-center field,  as the ball careened off what initially would have appeared to be the top of the wall he cruised into second base.  Athletics Manager Bob Melvin immediately hit the field to request that the umpires take a look to make sure the ball didn’t go out.  Every replay shown on the CSN California broadcast showed that the ball cleared the yellow line and hit the railing above it, the evidence appeared conclusive that Rosales had actually tied the game with a home run. Umpire Angel Hernandez disagreed upon review of the play, leaving Rosales at second base.  Bob Melvin vehemently argued the call, and was ejected for his efforts.

The A’s would get two more base runners via a hit by pitch on Eric Sogard, and a walk by John Jaso that loaded the bases.  Seth Smith would hit a weak comebacker to Perez to end the game and hand the A’s a loss.  The umpires had once again put their fingerprints on the game, and pushed the game in favor of the Indians.  The offending umpire, Angel Hernandez has a strong reputation for inconsistency and quite frankly for blowing calls all over the place.  This instance is just another notch in his belt.

While the vitriol will rain down on Hernandez, and well it should, this incident speaks to a much larger problem in Major League Baseball.  Since the implementation of instant replay for moments like this, there have been relatively few problems as severe as this one.  Apparently the umpires are only given the video to review from the cameras of the home team.  So who’s to say the cameramen aren’t instructed to zoom out in an instance like this to make it more difficult for the umpire to get the call correct if it might go against the home team.  The umpires should be given every conceivable angle in order to get the call correct, conclusively.  It’s the responsibility of MLB and Bud Selig to make this happen, the very integrity of the game depends on it.

As for the first 8 innings, it was another case of some sloppy play and missed opportunities.  Of course had those not happened I might have not written 500 words about the umpire in the first place.  A.J. Griffin was good for the most part tonight, but an Adam Rosales throwing error on a possible inning ending double play ball in the 5th inning opened the door for the Indians.  Two runs scored on that play.  Griffin would allow solo home runs to the ever gregarious Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana to give Cleveland the 4-3 lead they would win with.  A.J.’s line wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t as bad as it looks either.  He pitched 6.2 innings, allowed 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts in taking the loss.  Sean Doolittle retired the last batter of the 7th inning, and Ryan Cook pitched a clean 8th.

The A’s offense did better than Tuesday night at least.  The much talked about promotion of Daric Barton actually paid dividends, as the patient first baseman contributed a 2 run single and a walk (obviously in his first game back with the Athletics.  Brandon Moss accounted for the other run for the Athletics with an RBI single of his own prior to Barton’s.  Seth Smith had two hits tonight as well, and Jed Lowrie went 1 for 3 with a walk.

After a tough game to stomach, the A’s once again are faced with the challenge of salvaging a single win in a 4 game series tomorrow as Bartolo Colon (3-1, 3.62 ERA) takes on former Rays and Angels pitcher Scott Kazmir (1-1, 6.28 ERA).  Once upon a time the Athletics hung an astounding 14 ER on Kazmir, and while that game has absolutely zero impact on tomorrow’s outcome, perhaps that fact will linger in the back of his mind as he takes the mound bright and early tomorrow (9:05 AM PST).  Time to take out some frustration on the left hander.

May 3, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher A.J. Griffin (64) pitches against the New York Yankees during the second inning of a game at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The lineup put forth by the Yankees was very different from the who’s who of AL All Stars we’re used to seeing.  In the place of Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez stood Eduardo Nunez, Lyle Overbay, and Jayson Nix.  While Nix did go 2 for 3 in the game today, the lack of punch from this lineup was clearly evident as Griffin navigated his way through 7 scoreless innings of work on 6 hits and a walk, he struck out 4.  Griffin only was seriously threatened in the 3rd inning when a Chris Stewart walk, followed by a Robinson Cano ground rule double put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs, a harmless Vernon Wells pop up ended the threat.  Otherwise the Yankees had a baserunner here and there but never threatened to score again.

The A’s offense was fairly limited as well, with the Rosales home run and a Derek Norris RBI single in the 6th inning accounting for the only scoring in the game.  The A’s did have 10 hits though, 8 of which came against Sabathia, so they had chances for more but couldn’t convert.  But with Griffin on his game like he was, it didn’t matter so much.  Nate Freiman and Jed Lowrie each were able to tally 3 hits apiece, Adam Rosales and Yoenis Cespedes each reached base twice.

The A’s and Yanks take to the field once again tomorrow in a matinee as Bartolo Colon (3-0, 3.38 ERA) takes on Phil Hughes (0-2, 4.67 ERA) as they try to take the series on the road.  Yankee Stadium, both old and new, has always been a tough place for the A’s to win, so taking this series would be a huge step for this team.  Colon can follow much of the same strategy that Griffin did in his victory today, pitch to contact and let the defense do their jobs.  Pitch to the big power alleys and let the Yankees get themselves out.  It’s a strategy that normally wouldn’t work with this team, but with the current cast of characters it can.

Throughout the Cactus League schedule, the presumed battle between Scott Sizemore and Jemile Weeks for the starting second base job was supposed to dominate much of the conversation.  That didn’t happen because Jemile Weeks hurt his shoulder, and was relatively unproductive after his return and has already been optioned.  Sizemore has been underwhelming as he works his way back into everyday baseball form after missing 2012.  Jed Lowrie‘s highly productive spring has all but ensured him a spot in the lineup everyday, although perhaps not at the same position everyday.

Mar 19, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima (3) jogs off the field after the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Then there’s Hiroyuki Nakajima, everyone’s “Super Hiro” as the ItsOpeningDay Designs shirt cleverly displays.  He was the one member of the middle infield annointed as a starter at the beginning of camp by Manager Bob Melvin.  Hiro didn’t exactly impress though, posting a paltry .167/.286/.190 line in 46 plate appearances.  Nakajima though is still adjusting to life in the United States, not to mention an entirely new league to learn.  Many have become impatient, wanting to see the same guy who we all saw driving the ball and showboating after hitting no doubt home runs.  He hasn’t arrived yet, and chances are we’ll have to wait a little while longer to see that guy because Nakajima pulled up lame advancing to second base on a sac bunt this afternoon.  Hiro’s strained hamstring could give the A’s an excuse to not place him on the 25-man roster if they can justify a DL stint and a “rehab” assignment for him in Triple A.  This could serve a dual purpose for the A’s in getting Nakajima a little more time to get comfortable, and also buy some time to evaluate another middle infielder.

That middle infielder goes by the name of Eric Sogard, and he’s torn up the Cactus League.  The injury to Nakajima, and the announcement today that Adam Rosales will start the season on the DL with an intercostal strain seems to all but ensure Sogard’s presence on the 25-man roster come Monday night.  Whether he’ll be in the starting lineup is an entirely different story.

You can probably write Jed Lowrie’s name on your scorebook right now at the shortstop position for Monday’s opener.  It remains to be seen whether Eric Sogard or Scott Sizemore is his double play partner.  We know though that the Athletics tried to improve their depth in order to deal with situations like this with multiple injuries, and that depth will be immediately put to the test.  So we’ll see pretty quickly whether or not Billy Beane has done enough to make this team a contender once again.