The Pastime

The Tigers took advantage of too many Oakland mistakes tonight to take Game One.I’m not going to dwell on it and go over the things Oakland could have done better, but here are the areas I think the A’s need to address to win:

- Macha needs to use his deep pen. Zito was done an inning before he was pulled, and the Oakland pen shut out the Tigers for the rest of the game.

- Oakland’s failure to score with runners in scoring position. They get on base, but then are erased by double plays and untimely hitting. Macha should really get the runners moving a little more often, but with free swingers like Swisher, Jimenez and Payton in the lineup, that may not be a great idea, either.

- Mental mistakes need to stop, now. The A’s played error-free, perfect baseball against Minnesota. The loss of Ellis really hurts, but even Chavez and Swisher made mistakes, which is unlike them.

- Hope Jerry Crawford doesn’t get back behind the plate. His strike zone was awful tonight. There’s a reason his 2006 stats were so out of line. His strike zone is terrible.

It’s a seven game series, though. There is plenty of baseball left to be played, and Oakland has home-field advantage. I’m still confident that the A’s can pull it out.