I'm proud of these young A's! They've now rattled off five straight wins against a decent team (Blue Jays) and a very good team (Indians). Tonight's win against Cleveland came about in no small part because of drawing eight walks in just 3 1/3 innings against Fausto Carmona, which is impressive no matter how wild Carmona was. It also came about because Bobby Crosby came through with a big three-run homer in the seventh inning, giving the A's a cushion the Indians couldn't overcome.

This isn't a good team. I have no illusions about this. This is particularly true minus Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer, and also maybe minus Ryan Sweeney (?). But they're not the Giants. They should be frisky and exciting all year, and the tough bullpen should do a good job of keeping games close. It's actually nice to not have huge expectations coming into the year, for the first time in eight or nine years. It makes the wins sweeter and the losses easier to bear. I'm not checking the standings every day. (Well, except that I do just happen to know that Oakland has the best record in the AL so far.) This isn't to say I want the A's to be mediocre every year. I can't wait until they're a real threat next year or the year after, but for now, I'm really enjoying it.