Porcello: Brilliant

- Rick Porcello is pitching a terrific game tonight. He really has his two-seam fastball working, and has the A's hitting the top half of the ball consistently. It's almost been too easy at times. But Porcello did this before when he was on. The difference the last calendar year, when Porcello has essentially been a 20-game winner, is that he he has been able to adjust when he doesn't have his best two-seam fastball working. This is somebody who looks like he belongs in the All-Star game
- Loved the barehanded play by A's third baseman Josh Donaldson. Sometimes, I see his high WAR as a classic example about how the Sabermetrics statistical measure is still somewhat off, but I'm not so sure that applies in his case the more I watch him play. He does have great value defensively from a traditional scouting standpoint, too.
- Soft-tossing lefty Brad Mills is tailor-made for J.D. Martinez. That home run, a genuine bomb, was no surprise. He would have to be in the lineup tonight even if Victor Martinez wasn't hurt, right? Torii Hunter still looks like the odd man out eventually.