The very concept of “momentum” in the life of a professional baseball team seems to be an elusive reality for the SF Giants.  The energizing effect of Jason Schmidt’s record tying perfomance Tuesday night has been followed by losing three of the next four games.  Losing is one thing, but in the maddening fashion which the Giants floundered.  Losing the Jamie Wright game with the star of the game toiling on three days of rest could have been expected.  But the 2-0 loss on Saturday followed by a bullpen collapse (one might be tempted to elaborate futher, using the word “bullpen” as  root from which to work) on Sunday was downright disheartening.  A shutout will result in a quiet clubhouse after the game, but this latest setback, with Schmidt  on the mound, will provoke some anger and frustration as they board a plane for Arizona and the stumping but still in first place Diamondbacks.  

An error by Lance Niekro resulted in one unearned run with Schmidt responsible for the other.  Working without the recent command of the last few starts, he struck out only five but walked an equal number.   But still they scored three runs in the sixth inning to go ahead 4-2 and could not hold the lead.  Accardo worked an uneventful 6^th inning, but left a couple baserunners on in the 7^th, when Tim Worrell came in and promptly gave up a grand slam home run to his second batter.  The collapse was unexpected with the bullpen performing so well lately, and manager Felipe Alou and pitching coach Dave Righetti will have to give some further thought to the roles these guys are playing and when they should come into games.  

In the meantime, the general manager, Brian Sabean, has committed to the pursuit of another bat.  Moises Alou is having a fabulous season, picking up right where he left off more than a month ago when he led the league in hitting.  Timely hitting and hitting with power has been a part of Alou’s game since he broke into the league 1990, and he is one the real ‘professional’ hitters in the league; as they say, he can roll out of bed in mid January and HIT!  Two maddening losses in Arizona ended with an 11-4

laugher punctuated by Steve Fineley’s leadoff home run (300^th for his career), and Bonds’ 9^th of the year, a line drive over the right field fence (preceded by a 425 foot SINGLE off the centerfield fence) and a complete game by Matt Morris, in an 8-2 victory.  Maybe he will now live up to the lofty expectations due to his $9 million dollar per year contract; he is supposed to be a frontline starter and the Giants hope he has turned the corner of bad luck and inconsistent pitching.

The calendar page turns to June and the A’s start to play out of their minds.  Again.  It seems every year they dig a hole for themselves, do not panic (they are too young to know how to panic) and they start to play ball.  They rolled into New York and SWEPT the Yankees!  The Big Hurt is starting to hurt the opposition with timely, meaningful home runs, and now has 16, among league leaders.  His .235 batting average is still a disappointment but he cannot run the bases anyway, and would only clog up the works for his younger, fleeter teammates. 

Zito is pitching again, finally, instead of aiming the ball and hoping for the best.  Pitching with confidence, mixing his off speed repertoire with his average fastball has produced the desired results.  Dan Haren is the real deal, and makes the Mulder trade look astute.  Joe Blanton, too, has pitched well recently but when he is bad, he is unwatchable.  The injury bug has bitten them too; Mark Ellis is out, Milton Bradley only just returned after a long hiatus on the DL and Eric Chavez fights some back discomfort. 

But they are young and apparently fearless and they will challenge the unlike division leading Texas Rangers before all is said and done in September.   Seven in a row and counting… the A’s swept the Mariners in Oakland and now occupy first place, a half game in front of the surprising Texas Rangers.  The Rangers may yet wilt in the heat of a Texas summer, but their pitching, bolstered by Millwood (7-3, 4.59 era), is better than it has ever been and they have always hit. 

Though Texeira has yet to hit his stride at the plate, Gary Mathews, Jr (.339 BA). has been a pleasant surprise at the top of the order and Michael Young continues to hit, as he has done for some time now.   Hank Blalock (.296, 10hr, 48 rbi), previously thought to be on the trading block, is untouchable at this point as he carries the burden of Texeira’s  relatively quiet performance (.285, 6hr, 35 rbi).