Trevor Cahill looks weird in the green and gold from 2011. (Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE)

TURNING POINT:  The first blow came in the form of an RBI double off the bat of Justin Upton.  An intentional walk to Jason Kubel, and a strike out of Paul Goldschmidt later, Miguel Montero blasted a grand slam over the pool in right center field.  It would’ve seemed like a tremendously painful gut punch, if the A’s hadn’t suffered the heartbreak of last night’s walk off.

ON THE HILL:  Jarrod Parker once again struggled with his command, but it seemed that home plate umpire Tim McClelland was giving Parker a little bit of the rookie treatment.  The A’s battery of Parker and Kurt Suzuki were none too happy about it, and Manager Bob Melvin argued their point and got heaved for his efforts.  Whether Parker’s command issues would have reared their ugly head tonight anyway is a question we can’t answer, but either way his 5 innings of work allowing 8 hits, 5 ER, 5 walks, and 4 strikeouts were simply ugly looking.

Cahill has grown into his new uniform, and he got his revenge on the A's tonight. ( Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE)

AT THE PLATE:  Each position player in the starting lineup managed to reach base via the walk or a basehit tonight, the A’s reached double digits in hits as well, they just couldn’t cash in when they needed it.  Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington led the charge, if you could call it that, with 2 hits and 3 hits each respectively.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  The optimism created by the series win against the Texas Rangers is long gone, the A’s have been overmatched in the first two games against the DBacks.  It appears as if they are inching toward the bullpen we all want, and that is having Ryan Cook as the team’s closer, after Brian Fuentes’ implosion last night, the A’s will use the dreaded closer by committee strategy for now.  One can only assume that will be shelved once every member of that committee not named Ryan Cook continues to get shelled.  Alas, we move along to the finale of this series as the A’s attempt to salvage a game.  Travis Blackley (0-1, 3.45 ERA), he of the 8 year winless streak takes on former division foe Joe Saunders (3-4, 3.65 ERA).  Saunders is a very hittable pitcher, and the A’s absolutely must take out some frustration from this disastrous weekend on him, it is a must.

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TURNING POINT:  There were many turning points during this wild and crazy (and long) game.  But for me, the biggest moment wasn’t the 6 run 2nd inning the A’s posted, but the 3 run 2nd inning Arizona responded with.  One of the biggest thorns in the sides of teams that struggle is the inability to convert the all important shut down inning.  Most headlines tonight will say the A’s blew a 6-0 lead, which is true, but in reality this game feels like that 6-0 lead never really existed, because it was cut in half before anyone even realized it.  A Willie Bloomquist single and a Jason Kubel 2 run homer made it 6-3 after just 2 innings.  In a live ballpark like Chase Field, it was pretty clear the scoring had just begun.

Jun. 8, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Ryan Roberts (left) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a three run walk off home run in the ninth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

ON THE HILL:  Tommy Milone‘s road struggles returned tonight, he never had his command, leading either to walks or solid contact being made all over the place.  Milone miraculously made it through 5 innings, which would have qualified for the win, he coughed up 4 runs on 9 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5.  Sean Doolittle followed Milone and the dominance that he displayed in his debut was not present tonight, he gave up 2 runs on 2 hits while only retiring 2 batters.  Grant Balfour came on to allow the 2nd run charged to Doolittle before retiring the side, he added a clean inning of his own.  Ryan Cook came on to pitch a clean 8th inning while striking out the side.  Then came Brian Fuentes, he retired the first two batters, one on a sparkling diving play by Cliff Pennington that has to be seen to be believed, a walk and a hit followed by the fateful home run led to a 0.2 inning outing with 2 hits, 3 ER, and a walk without any strikeouts.

AT THE PLATE:  The bats were certainly alive today, so its a shame that effort was in vain.  There were hits-a-plenty tonight, 16 to be exact, tying a season high.  Josh Reddick, Seth Smith, and Brandon Inge each collected 3 of their own with Inge and Smith adding a walk also.  Smith’s night was highlighted by a 2 run homer against an old friend named Craig Breslow (And a stunning robbery of Aaron Hill’s home run ball) that at the time felt like would be of great importance, little did we know what it would lead to.  Coco Crisp also continued to hit the ball with some authority after his solid game Thursday afternoon, collecting 2 more hits.  Not to be outdone, A’s starter Tommy Milone added a 2 run double which snapped a lengthy 0-fer streak for A’s pitchers.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  It has become pretty evident recently that Ryan Cook will ultimately be the closer for the Oakland Athletics.  His dominance in the set up role has put him in a position to ascend to the top of the bullpen.  Meanwhile the two men who’ve been given the opportunity to close games for the A’s have struggled horribly in that role.  It seems like a pretty simple decision to make, and at this point what do they have to lose?  This is becoming yet another lost Athletics season, so why not give him a shot?  If the A’s brass wants to win games, they need to show us they want to and inset Ryan Cook as the team’s closer.  As I feel like I’ve said too many times this year, the beauty of this game is that there is another one tomorrow, a chance to erase the horror of tonight’s game.  It will be a most intriguing matchup, as starters who were traded for one another face off.  The A’s will send rookie Jarrod Parker (2-2, 2.40 ERA) to the hill against former Athletics Opening Day starter Trevor Cahill (3-5, 3.45 ERA).  Cahill has been his usual inconsistent self so far this season, but is coming off his best outing with the Diamondbacks, a complete game shutout against the San Diego Padres last Sunday.  If anybody knows Cahill’s weaknesses its the A’s, and vice versa the Diamondbacks will know Jarrod Parker’s shortcomings.  Taking that under consideration this game has the makings of another slugfest, but I expect both pitchers to be on their game.  Let’s just hope for better results.

Check me out on Twitter @SeanD25, see my take on everything else baseball at Baseball Obsessed, and follow everything Swingin’ A’s @FS_SwinginAs.

Ervin Santana carved up the A's like a Thanksgiving Turkey (Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE)

TURNING POINT:  The only serious trouble Santana got in was brought upon himself by losing his command in the top of the 6th inning.  With two outs Jemile Weeks singled and stole 2nd while Cliff Pennington ultimately worked a walk, then Josh Reddick walked to load the bases for Seth Smith, who chased a slider in the dirt to end the threat.  Cashing in on even 1 or 2 of those runners on would’ve put a lot of momentum in the A’s dugout and given them a fighting chance.  But the A’s left a goose egg in the run column, and Mike Trout‘s 7th inning homer pretty much sealed it for the Halos.

ON THE HILL:  Bartolo Colon‘s start could go in a baseball glossary for the term scattered hits, he gave up 12 tonight in 6.2 innings, with the Angels only cashing in 4 runs with all those base runners.  They were making contact pretty much the whole game, only striking out 3 times and not a single walk was issued by Colon.  He only threw 89 pitches, so it seems the Angels were swinging aggressively at Colon’s strikes.  Jerry Blevins finished off the 7th inning for Bartolo, retiring the only batter he faced.  Andrew Carignan had a solid rebound after his ugly first outing back in Oakland, issuing a walk but retiring the side in the 8th without much incident.

Bartolo Colon got knocked around a bit by his former squad. (Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE)

AT THE PLATE:  The A’s only mustered 5 hits against Ervin Santana and 2 relievers, so there wasn’t much to report from the green and gold with the sticks tonight.  Josh Reddick with 2 walks, and Cliff Pennington with a walk and a hit were the only A’s to reach base multiple times tonight, not exactly a recipe for success.  Jemile Weeks’ eternal 2012 battle with the Mendoza line continued as he managed 1 hit in his 4 at bats putting his AVG right at .200.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  For the 3rd straight series the A’s managed a split, it’s certainly better than losing the series, but the A’s would like to be able to shut down some of these opponents when they have the opportunity.  That’s something this team will have to develop as they continue this iteration of the rebuild.  The A’s move on during this whirlwind week and head to Arlington for 2 against the AL West juggernaut Texas Rangers.  They’ll be greeted by the Japanese phenomenon Yu Darvish (5-1, 2.84 ERA) tomorrow night, the A’s will counter with the soft tossing “cool as a cucumber” Tommy Milone (5-2, 3.92 ERA).  Darvish has something like 25 different pitches he can use, and you can bet your bottom dollar he’ll be painting the corners with his various colors.  The A’s will have to be aggressive and swing hard at the very few pitches he will give them to hit, try to fight off the nasty ones, and hope to get Darvish out of the game as soon as possible if they have any hope of taking him down.  On the other hand Tommy Milone will have to have laser precision or else the Rangers’ modern day “murderers row” will pound him into oblivion.  I always feel like bad things always happen when the A’s visit the Rangers, but then again sometimes masterful performances a la Dallas Braden or Trevor Cahill in recent years take place, either way it’ll be fascinating to watch.

Check me out on Twitter @SeanD25, see my take on everything else baseball at Baseball Obsessed, and follow everything Swingin’ A’s @FS_SwinginAs.