By Jason Wojciechowski on April 6, 2003 at 4:20 PM
So the A's won their fourth game of the year last night. John Halama, of all people, pitched a decent game, getting just slightly better results than Jarrod Washburn so the A's could take it 4-2.
Scott Hatteberg again did not start, but he did come in late as a pinch hitter and played first, so I guess he's ok.
I'm super happy that Adam Piatt had a nice day getting a start in left field as Terrence Long came in only as a defensive replacement. If Adam hits a homer and a double every time he starts, he'll have a pretty good year.
Jeremy Fikac is looking more and more like a really nice pickup. He did give up a run in his two innings, but it happens. Keith Foulke ended up getting his first save as an Athletic, on just eight pitches. Ricardo Rincon came in to get the last out of the eighth and got it on just one pitch. This is the benefit of pitching against a team whose offense is run like the Angels' is.
That said, it was the A's who came away with no walks, while Halama walked two Angels. I'm concerned that Miguel Tejada hasn't walked yet, though he is seeing four pitches per plate appearance. Contrast this with Eric Chavez, who is seeing 4.58 pitches each time up, and has walked five times (three unintentionally).
Chavez isn't going to maintain a 1.240 OPS this year, but I think he'll be a legitimate MVP candidate.