Another Series Split

Tonight was a battle of Chads. Chad Durbin and Chad Gaudin. Each one came into tonight’s game with an ERA over 4.00, and neither with any recent good outings. The A’s scored 6 runs off Durbin in 4 1/3 innings, although 2 of those were helped by Jason Grilli who again for the most part was unable to throw strikes coming out of the bullpen. He also allowed one of his own. Gaudin ended up striking out 9 on his way to his first win since July 5.

The Tigers find themselves tied with the Indians going into a short 2 game series on the shores of Lake Erie. It was nice to see the Tigers get great wins on Saturday and Sunday, but winning this series and having a full game lead on the Tribe would have been that much nicer. The Tigers and Indians have had similar skids in recent weeks. It will be interesting to see which team wants this upcoming series and the division lead more.