Jul 1, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics catcher Kurt Suzuki (8) in the dug out during the first inning of the game against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE

Kurt has been a mainstay behind the dish for the A’s ever since taking over catching duties from Jason Kendall when he was called up in 2007.  He was expected to be a solid all around catcher, hitting, working well with pitchers, and providing solid defense behind the plate and through his first few years he seemed destined to do all of that.  But after what we all thought was a breakout 2009 season for Kurt, his offensive production began to decline rather sharply.  Perhaps it was his tireless work ethic and desire to be in the game every day that simply took its toll on his body and eroded his skills.  Either way though Kurt Suzuki was always a model player and embodied everything a team and a fan base wants to see when someone represents them.

David Freitas is a fairly well regarded catching prospect in the Nationals organization with a .288/.398/.437 line through 3 seasons on 3 levels of A ball.  The 23 year old may be a little old for his level, but could turn into a late bloomer or perhaps a valuable complimentary trade chip for Billy Beane in the future if he continues to produce.

With the departure of Suzuki, the Derek Norris era will begin, although it will have to wait a week or so until he can be recalled since he was just optioned to make room for newly acquired George Kottaras.  So for now the catching duties will be in the hands of Kottaras and presumably Anthony Recker will be his back up.

I had hoped that Suzuki would stay for the duration of this season and would get to experience the A’s battling it out in a pennant race, but it was not meant to be.  He has a decent salary that will come off the books now, which could perhaps open the door for improvements to be made in other areas of the roster.  Kurt will be reunited with his old battery mate Gio Gonzalez in Washington, something that I’m sure will ease the heartbreak of his first trade.  He’s also landing on his feet as the Nationals are currently in 1st place in the NL East and have the 2nd best record in all of baseball.

We wish Kurt nothing but the best as he moves on from the Athletics.  He may not have turned into the catching force we all had hoped for, but he sure did the A’s proud.

Coco Crisp takes the post walk-off abuse from Josh Reddick (Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE)

Today’s game looked to be one of those games where the Yankees put up a crooked number off the bat of Alex Rodriguez, and the Yankees were poised to cruise to a series salvaging victory.  In the grand scheme of things I would have been quite satisfied with taking 3 out of 4 from the Yankees, and going 4-2 on this home stand.  But with a historic 4 game sweep of the Yankees in our sights, it was clear that 3 of 4 just wasn’t going to cut it.  When Brandon Inge went deep in the 5th inning, there was a glimmer of hope, but when Kurt Suzuki went deep for the 1st time in 2012 it was clear that this wasn’t going to end well for the Bronx Bombers.  An RBI groundout cut the lead to 4-3, setting up the dramatic and incredibly clutch solo home run from Seth Smith in the bottom of the 9th inning against Rafael Soriano.  Soriano has been a very effective replacement closer in the absence of Mariano Rivera, so the fact that he blew the save and was denied the chance to untuck his shirt after sealing a win is pretty remarkable.  That untuck thing is really bush league by the way if you ask me, especially for a Yankee.  But I digress.

The exceptional work by the A’s bullpen, specifically Jordan Norberto and Jerry Blevins made this win possible.  Over a total of 5.1 innings they only allowed 5 base runners on 3 hits and 2 walks.  That was more than enough to cover for Bartolo Colon’s relatively shaky outing where he allowed 4 ER in 6.2 innings of work.  As the game progressed to the 12th inning, the A’s were determined to finish this thing off.  Derek Norris snapped his 30 AB hitless streak with a 1 out single, he was moved into scoring position by Jemile Weeks as the A’s looked to take a shot for the win with Coco Crisp at the dish.  Coco wasted no time whatsoever, slapping the first Cody Eppley pitch into right field to drive Norris home and send the O.co Coliseum into pure delirium.

The A’s are in a very interesting position now, they have a share of the 2nd wildcard spot alongside the Baltimore Orioles, they are just 1/2 game behind the Los Angeles Angels for the 1st wildcard spot and for 2nd place in the AL West as well.  But most importantly, they are now just 5.5 games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West.  It seems crazy to even conceive of the A’s catching the Rangers, but they do have 7 games remaining with them over the final week and a half of the season.  At this point it would be foolish to rule the A’s out of anything happening this season.  It’s hard not to get really excited about what the next 2 months will hold.  Many A’s fans probably feel as if this is all too good to be true, and the downfall of this team is just over the horizon.  But my advice to everyone is to enjoy every single game you can, this is why we all love baseball and love this team.  It might have been a cheesy marketing campaign of MLB a few years back, but we truly do live for this.  Sit back and enjoy the drama as it unfolds.  The A’s and Blue Jays lock up Tuesday night as Travis Blackley (2-2, 2.86 ERA) and Brett Cecil (2-2, 6.34 ERA) take the mound at 4:05 PM PST from Toronto.  I for one, can’t wait to see what’s next.

July 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss (37) hits the game winning RBI against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

TURNING POINT:  The Yankees had to be thrilled to see Tommy Milone exit the game tonight, and Russell Martin acted on that happiness by homering against Jerry Blevins in the 8th inning.  With the game much tighter now, the A’s needed to score again to give Ryan Cook a cushion in the 9th.  After Eric Sogard (Up from Sacramento after Cliff Pennington was placed on the 15 day DL) tripled the desperately struggling Kurt Suzuki came to the plate needing to make decent contact to get that insurance run in.  Suzuki grounded to a drawn in Derek Jeter who got threw home and got Sogard in a run-down, Suzuki was able to make it to 2nd base but Sogard was retired.  Coco Crisp drew a walk, but Jemile Weeks was unable to come through with a base hit with the insurance run at 2nd base.  So onto the 9th we went, and we all know how that turned out.

ON THE HILL:  It was all about Tommy Milone tonight, his stellar numbers at home are no secret to A’s fans, but his fearlessness against the New York Yankees tonight was really eye opening.  Milone struck out 10 Yankees in his 7 shutout innings, he gave up 5 hits but didn’t walk anyone.  Jerry Blevins allowed the home run to Russell Martin and hit Mark Teixeira with a pitch in his 0.2 innings of work.  Evan Scribner threw 1 pitch to Alex Rodriguez and got him to fly out to end the 8th.  Ryan Cook allowed a home run for the second straight night, this time to Robinson Cano, that was Cook’s only blemish tonight.  It should also be noted that the AL’s best pitching staff held the Yankees to less than 3 runs for the first time in 43 games, this is incredible stuff.

AT THE PLATE:  Brandon Moss is the star tonight for walking the A’s off in the 9th, but Yoenis Cespedes is nuclear hot right now.  Cespedes was 4-5 tonight with a run scored, his AVG now sits at .304 for the season.  It’s becoming clear that Cespedes’ talents don’t stop at hitting tape measure home runs, this guy can flat out rake.  Brandon Moss was 2-5 tonight with a run and an RBI.  Josh Reddick did his best to help add some insurance, going 3-5 tonight but didn’t touch the plate or drive any runs in.  Biggest shocker of the night, 2 hits came from the 7-8-9 spots in the order!  Brandon Inge drove in the second run of the game with a double, and Eric Sogard tripled in the 8th inning.  I feel real bad for Kurt Suzuki, I like the guy, but he’s just completely flabbergasted at the dish.  Perhaps a case of “elbow tendinitis” might be to blame?

FINAL THOUGHTS:  The A’s are on a roll like we haven’t seen in many years, and it’s even more exciting because the stakes are high now.  The A’s managed to keep pace with the Detroit Tigers and stay just 1/2 game behind them for the 2nd wildcard.  They remain 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Angels who beat the Texas Rangers tonight, they are now just 6.5 games behind the Texas Rangers.  I still don’t expect anyone to pass the Rangers, but the simple fact that they’re this close to one of the best teams in baseball is pretty amazing.  The A’s have guaranteed themselves at least a split in this 4 game series, but now is the time to go for the jugular.  The A’s can make a real statement by taking 3 of 4 from the Bombers, or even sweeping the series.  Jarrod Parker (6-4, 3.16 ERA) tries to carry the torch for another night against the once highly regarded prospect Phil Hughes (9-7, 4.22 ERA) tomorrow night.  Parker needs to pound the strike zone like AJ Griffin and Tommy Milone did before him, Parker has the ability to absolutely dominate any lineup provided he stays out of his own way.  The excitement continues tomorrow at O.co, I’ll be in attendance and hope to see many fellow A’s fans rocking the Coliseum to its core.  And for your viewing pleasure… the mauling of Brandon Moss.  Let’s Go Oakland!

July 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss (37) celebrates with pinch hitter Jonny Gomes (31) after Moss batted in the game winning run during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

July 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss (37) celebrates with pinch hitter Jonny Gomes (31) after Moss batted in the game winning run during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

July 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss (37) celebrates with pinch hitter Jonny Gomes (31) after Moss batted in the game winning run during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

July 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics dog pile on top of Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss (37) after batting in the game winning run against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

July 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics pinch hitter Jonny Gomes (31), third baseman Brandon Inge (7) and first baseman Brandon Moss (37) celebrate after Moss batted in the game winning run against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIREJuly 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (16) dumps a gatorade bucket on first baseman Brandon Moss (37) after Moss batted in the game winning run against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

July 20, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (16) dumps a gatorade bucket on first baseman Brandon Moss (37) after Moss batted in the game winning run against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the New York Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE