I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve really been enjoying listening to the opening games of the Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Spring Training schedule, but was busy for the first hour of their game against the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday evening.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Curious as to what may have happened in my absence I logged on just after nine o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122clock to find that the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bats had suddenly come alive.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a great big \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc7\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in the second inning of the linescore and poor old Randy Wolf\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pitching line didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look too clever: 1 inning pitched, five runs given up on five hits, with a 45.00 ERA.<\/p>\n
It turned out that non-roster invitee Andy LaRoche, someone who has made the depressing journey from highly-touted Dodgers project to Pirates cast-off in a couple of years, started the second frame with a solo shot and the runs kept on coming from there.\u00c2\u00a0 LaRoche is battling to win the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcinfield sub\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 role and showing some power certainly will help his chances considering Oakland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desperate need for help in the longball department.<\/p>\n
That need is exactly why the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s acquired Josh Willingham in a trade with the Washington Nationals over the offseason.\u00c2\u00a0 He is slated to be the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regular left fielder and he provided the first bit of hammer (\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWillinghammer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122?) that the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s are looking for from him by rudely welcoming Wolf\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s replacement, David Johnson, with a two-run jack.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was enough to help Coco Crisp put his drink-and-drive debacle to one side, for the time being at least.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The pitching was going along quite nicely as well.\u00c2\u00a0 Trevor Cahill missed out on the battle for the fifth starter spot in Spring Training a year ago, but twelve months on and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seen as the likely candidate to be the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opening day starter.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
He started the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Spring Training opener on Sunday against the Chicago Cubs and had a bit of a disaster, as much as you can have a disaster in your first Spring Training game, by being taken out of the\u00c2\u00a0contest having only retired one batter.\u00c2\u00a0 After a slightly shaky first inning against the Brewers, Cahill had a 1-2-3 second inning, getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame before the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s were retired in order in the top of the third.<\/p>\n