The A's just couldn't, as Ken Macha said after the game, come up with a big hit last night. The pitching was as strong as usual, even accounting for the Devil Rays's lack of baseball ability, because holding any "major league" team to three runs in ten innings is an accomplishment and should leave you with a chance to win the game. The Oakland offense early this year, though, looks a lot like it has in the recent past: inconsistent. It's four games, so don't take this as panic or even as a sign of things to come, but the early results are that 2005 is, so far, an extension of 2004.

MVOP for 4/8: Mark Ellis, 1.3151, with three hits in five trips, including a base hit in the top of the 10th with Charles Thomas on second base. I didn't see the game, so I can't place any blame, but it's unfortunate that the A's couldn't score the runner from second with that hit. Maybe the Devil Rays score a run in the bottom of the inning anyway and we keep playing, but maybe the A's bring in Octavio Dotel instead and he blows Tampa away. Youneverknow.

LVOP for 4/8: Erubiel Durazo, -3.0663, with a terrible game. He came up in a number of big spots and couldn't come through in any of them, going 0-5 for 7 men left on base. His bases-loaded double-play ground ball in the ninth is the lowlight of the season so far.

MVP for 4/8: Justin Duchscherer, 0.8752, for two scoreless innings before allowing a runner to reach third at the beginning of the eighth inning.

LVP for 4/8: Ricardo Rincon, -0.2514, for hitting the one man he faced with a pitch, putting runners on first and third with no outs in the eighth inning, a situation Juan Cruz wriggled out from under.

Standings

MVOP:

1. Marco Scutaro, Nick Swisher, Eric Byrnes, Mark Ellis -- 1

LVOP:

1. Erubiel Durazo -- 2
2. Mark Ellis, Bobby Kielty -- 1

MVP:

1. Kiko Calero, Kirk Saarloos, Dan Haren, Justin Duchscherer -- 1

LVP:

1. Barry Zito, Ricardo Rincon -- 1