Oakland almost gave Seattle their first win on Friday night, but the bats pulled it out, helping the A's win 8-6.

Mark Redman's final line looks good, as he gave up two runs in six innings, with no walks, but he struck out just two and allowed eight hits, including four doubles. The bullpen couldn't hold, though, as Ricky Rincon gave up a single and a walk after getting a strikeout to start the seventh, then Chad Bradford allowed those two runners to score, along with two more of his own, and got just one out to show for it. Chris Hammond finished the inning with a strikeout, but the damage was done: Seattle had regained the lead.

Fortunately, Randy Winn and Rafael Soriano conspired to give the A's the lead again in the bottom half, as Winn's error turned an Eric Chavez flyout into a run-scoring triple and Soriano gave up back-to-back doubles to Jermaine Dye and Scott Hatteberg, with Hatteberg's hit scoring the go-ahead run.

Last I checked, Ryan Franklin was right-handed. Which means that someone's going to have to explain to me why Eric Karros was starting over Erubiel Durazo today, especially in light of Karros's 0-4 day. Ken Macha's pronouncement that Karros won't be strictly a platoon player is one of the Oakland offense's biggest problems, in my eyes, because it's such an easily remedied problem. All you have to do is make sure Karros never hits against righties, especially when you've got Scott Hatteberg, Erubiel Durazo, and Billy McMillon all available.

Oakland walked four times, though, and popped eight doubles, tying a team record. Scutaro and Kielty each had two of those doubles, as each continue to be more than the A's could have hoped. Obviously, it's just four games, but it's still a nice start.

Finally, Arthur Rhodes continues to be a left-handed Keith Foulke, throwing a nine-inning ninth to get the save.