Doug Fister is a command maven; if he can’t place the ball exactly where he wants it, there could be problems. And in the top of the seventh, Fister walked Seth Smith to lead off the inning. It was the second leadoff walk Fister had issued in the game, but this is the one that cost him.
A’s use small ball to take 2-1 lead
Catcher George Kottaras bunted Smith over to second, and then Cliff Pennington, sitting on a fastball in a 2-0 count, lined a single into left-center to score Smith. That’d be some quality small ball; if it worked that well every time, managers would probably stop bunting just to annoy statheads, who would clamor for more bunting.
The run put the A’s up 2-1, and now they’re relying on their bullpen, as lefty reliever Sean Doolittle is in for the seventh inning. Tom Milone went six innings, walking one, striking out six, and allowing a run on five hits.
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