It was a bumpy road without a doubt to get to that point.  The A’s had their chances to win this game, and even led in the 8th, but the bullpen was unable to hold it together to deliver the victory for the team.

May 14, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Texas Rangers celebrate after their win over the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum. The Texas Rangers defeated the Oakland Athletics 6-5 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Bartolo Colon had one ugly inning, he allowed a sacrifice fly to Nelson Cruz, and a 2-run home run to Mitch Moreland to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead in the 4th.  Aside from that inning Bartolo was very effective, and would have been the winning pitcher had the bullpen been able to keep the Rangers off the board.  He allowed just 1 hit outside of that 4th inning.  His line of 6 innings, 4 hits, 3 ER, and 1 walk was nothing to be ashamed of.

Sean Doolittle did his job in the 7th inning, circumventing a Jed Lowrie error to deliver another scoreless frame.  He did also allow a hit.  Ryan Cook was the first offender for the Athletics bullpen, as he is prone to do, he put runners on base by not making his pitches.  He allowed two singles to put runners at first and third with 1 out, and Nelson Cruz delivered his second sacrifice fly of the night to tie the game.  Jerry Blevins came in to clean up Cook’s mess.  Had Cook been able to pitch a scoreless 8th, Blevins likely would have been there still to work the 10th inning.  The ramifications of Cook’s ineffectiveness were felt for the rest of the game as Chris Resop pitched the 10th and took the loss.  Resop’s time in Oakland has to be drawing to a close as he’s allowed 12 ER in his last 11 appearances.

The A’s got themselves off the mat against Rangers starter Derek Holland in the 5th as Adam Rosales grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to score a run, and Jed Lowrie doubled in the second run.  The A’s would tie the game in the 6th after a Josh Donaldson double, a productive groundout by Derek Norris to move him to 3rd, and a sacrifice fly by Luke Montz.  Seth Smith singled following Montz, and was driven in by Nate Freiman to give the A’s the 4-3 lead that Cook would relinquish soon after.

Josh Donaldson was the offensive star once again, going 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and a run scored.  He has raised his batting average to an impressive .315 this season.  Seth Smith went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and an RBI, and Nate Freiman went 2 for 3 before being pinch run for by Brandon Moss.

The Athletics announced after the game that Michael Taylor was being optioned back to Triple A Sacramento, presumably for the activation from the disabled list of Coco Crisp.

The A’s will try to take this series tomorrow in a matinee as Dan Straily (1-1, 7.06 ERA) and Alexi Ogando (3-2, 3.09 ERA) take to the mound.  Straily has to figure out some way to keep the Rangers in the ballpark.  Considering this will be a warm day game, that seems like an almost impossible challenge.  Needless to say, if the A’s want to win this series they will have to bring the lumber.

April 04, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (16) celebrates with teammates after hitting a two run home run against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

But while we wait for the team to hit the Lone Star State for the first time, we can take the opportunity to evaluate the total package we witnessed during the opening 4 game series with the aformentioned Mariners.  As I stated prior, it’s an art form, one that is only rivaled by the art of judging players based solely on their Spring Training statistics.  I am not one to resist an opportunity to take part in such judgements.  So forthcoming will be a few of the conclusions that can be made based on the 4 games we’ve seen the Athletics play (Please keep in mind these are not my actual opinions).

Josh Reddick will improve upon his 2012 numbers by continuing to go to the opposite field.

This particular conclusion is based primarily on this afternoon’s 8-2 victory over the Mariners.  Reddick took Seattle starter Brandon Maurer very deep in the first inning, which was something very typical in 2012, but the RBI double that  came in the bottom of the 6th inning was not.  Reddick golfed the ball a bit, but rather than popping it up as he tried to pull it, he drove the pitch off the left-center field wall for a double.  In his postgame interview he stated that he had been working all spring with Chili Davis on driving the ball the opposite way, and it is paying dividends already.  This newfound ability will keep him out of the pull happy mega-slump that we all endured during the latter part of the season.

Jed Lowrie will be an All-Star shortstop in 2013.

The inspiration for this came from Ken Korach on the radio broadcast today, on the heels of another double by Lowrie, Korach praised him to the point of putting his ceiling among the league leaders in batting average among other statistics.  For Lowrie the hot hitting spring has carried into the regular season and as long as he can stay healthy his production will continue at an elite level.

Nate Freiman will take away a large amount of playing time from Brandon Moss at first base.  

In his first two games at the big league level, there’s no doubt that Nate Freiman has impressed.  He notched an RBI single in his first at bat, dunked in another hit on a pop fly, and has hit a couple hard fly balls to the warning track, one of which drove in a run.  His swing is very compact, especially for a hitter with a 6 foot 9 frame, and will help him avoid being just another Brandon Allen type hitter who can’t make consistent contact.  Brandon Moss has struggled so far, with just one hit to his credit on today’s hard hit single off the wall (he was thrown out by a mile trying to stretch it into a double).  If Moss doesn’t pick things up soon, Freiman may become the man at first and prove to be an absolute steal.

The pitching staff will lead the AL in walks issued.

Control hasn’t exactly been the team’s strong suit at this point. Brett Anderson, Jarrod Parker and Ryan Cook were the prime suspects in this case, accounting for 10 of the team’s 15 walks thus far.  Giving out free passes like this is an easy way to give out free runs as well, and if the staff does that the A’s will be destined to fail.

Eric Sogard will be a mainstay at second base.

If you look at his hitting numbers, this thought would seem ludicrous.  He has just 1 hit so far.  But his defense has been quite good and that will keep him in the lineup consistently against right handers.  Despite the ball he let roll through his legs on Monday, Sogard has found himself all over the highlight reels on ESPN and MLB Network.  His flair for the dramatic plays will only serve to keep him at second base despite his hitting limitations, but based on his spring the bat should come around as well.

Yoenis Cespedes will win the AL MVP.

While Chris Davis and Michael Morse might have an argument to make for the first half-week MVP honors, Yoenis Cespedes has made his presence felt as well.  A solo homer on Tuesday provided the A’s with their first run on 2013, and a rocket to the stairs on this afternoon put an exclamation point on the A’s victory.  He’ll play his typically stellar defense in left, and should play a major role in the A’s quest to repeat as AL West Champions.  (While it’s way too early to make this judgment, this one is totally not that far fetched)

We’ll soon begin to get a legitimate idea of what this team is capable of in the coming weeks, some of these early trends are surely bound to change as the season continues.  What looked like a gloomy start, now looks like reason for hope as the A’s take on former Athletics minor leaguer Brad Peacock and the Houston Astros tomorrow night at the Houston launching pad known as Minute Maid Park.

March 12, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Tommy Milone (57) throws in the first inning during a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

We saw the A’s take on the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday afternoon at Phoenix Muni, and I had some very strong impressions on a couple things that may or may not show themselves once the regular season begins.  For the most part they looked pretty good, beating the previously 13-1 Royals by a score of 6-3.  Tommy Milone wobbled a bit in his 3.2 innings of work, he allowed 6 hits and 3 ER, but the defense didn’t help him much either.  He didn’t look that bad, except for the tape measure shot that appeared to travel to the practice in right by Alex Gordon.

One of the most glaring weaknesses I noticed was perhaps a little overaggresiveness on the basepaths by the Athletics.  Brandon Moss got caught trying to grab second base on a throw that went to the plate on his RBI single in the 4th, and then was caught trying to stretch a pop fly that fell in for a single into a double, and Eric Sogard was nailed at 3rd base trying to stretch a double down the right field line into a triple.  Sogard also should have been doubled up earlier on a would-be double by John Jaso that was run down by Jarrod Dyson, he was saved when the ball was bobbled on the relay by the first baseman to allow Sogard to retreat to first.

Ryan Cook threw an inning, but it sure wasn’t pretty.  He only allowed a hit, but his pitches were all over the place.  He’s gotten by thus far in his career on the strength of his stuff, but one has to wonder how long he’ll be able to dodge bullets.

It was a perfect start to the 4 day trip in Arizona, enjoyed my first A’s game of 2013, was able to get one of those sweet new A’s Spring Training caps, and saw a victory in the process.  The A’s are off this afternoon, so we are going to go scout the competition as we head to Peoria to see the San Diego Padres take on Joe Blanton and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Tempe.  The Angels will be starting all of their big guns, so it’ll be interesting to see them in action together for the first time.  More reports from Arizona to follow.