Oakland lost their fourth straight last night, falling to the Yankees late after being swept by the Angels. I gave Jim Mecir the benefit of the doubt the last time he blew a game for Oakland, but this one was inexcusable. Tim Hudson and the A's offense had combined for a four run lead going into the eighth, which Mecir promptly blew without managing a single out. He had help from his buddy Ricky Rincon, but Mecir did most of the damage.

It's too bad, because the A's offense had a nice night, scoring eight runs against Mike Mussina and some relievers, needing just one home run (Eric Chavez's fourth) to do it. Scott Hatteberg is hitting like the Hatte of old, Marco Scutaro's superhuman phase doesn't appear to be quite over yet, and even Frankie Menechino chipped in with an RBI single.

Unfortunately, Bobby Kielty isn't really hitting, and Erubiel Durazo is also hitting like the White Whale of old. In other words, he's repeating his pitiful slugging performance from last year, while still getting on base at an ok clip. Maybe he's just not destined to be the hitter we all thought he was, or maybe Oakland Coliseum really affects him badly ... or maybe he had a down year and he's having a slow 50-at-bat start. Whatever the cause, I'd really like to see him earn his way to something higher than the sixth batting spot, but he's just not doing that right now.

I'm headed to Yankee Stadium tonight to see the second game in the series. I'm going with a bunch of other NYC bloggers, so I'll likely be the only person rooting for the A's.