Momentarily setting aside the Oakland Athletics' 9-3 win over the Houston Astros today that secured the team's first sweep of the young 2013 season, sometimes it pays to ease off a little.
Right fielder Josh Reddick -- he of the 2012 American League Gold Glove award for outfielders -- sprained his right wrist chasing a fly ball into foul territory at Minute Maid Park in Houston today, even though the A's were ahead 8-0 at the time.
He's got to be smarter than that.
In truth, it could have been a lot worse for Oakland, as Reddick is listed as day-to-day right now. But wrist injuries are never good for hitters, and the A's need both Reddick's bat and his defense if they're going to defend their AL West division title this year.
But back to the game: the A's collected 11 hits, including two doubles and three home runs, on their way to the sweep of the lowly Astros. In the five-game win streak for Oakland, they've tallied a total of 53 hits and 37 runs.
They haven't exactly been facing Cy Young winners, of course, so these numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt -- but the A's certainly will take the wins any way they can get them.
With a 5-2 record, Oakland will be in first place alone on Monday morning, regardless of the outcome of the Los Angeles-Texas game tonight.
Coco Crisp homered for the third straight game -- something he hasn't done since 2008 -- while Jed Lowrie and Chris Young also went deep. Brandon Moss added two hits, and Seth Smith drove in two runs.
The A's balanced offense has really been on display, and their pitching has been there to match it during this win streak. Brett Anderson struck out ten hitters in six innings, although these Houston hitters have been whiffing a lot in their first six games of the year.
The Astros -- with 74 strikeouts in their first six games -- could easily break the Oakland mark set last year for most strikeouts in AL history.
But again, the A's will take the wins no matter who they come against. They'll need them as they travel to Los Angeles this week for three games against the Angels (starting Tuesday) before returning home Friday to host the Detroit Tigers for three.
Next week, Houston will travel to Oakland for three games.
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