A's recover in time to shine

Errors and dissention continue early before healing begins with healthy bats

The A's started ugly, but seemingly took Dr. Jekyll's reverse formula that brought him back to normal, transforming back to Mr. Hyde, or maybe Oprah just bought them a makeover. Whatever the method the A's were looking beautiful by game's end, enjoying a 25-8 victory over the Brewers.

The game started with an error on the very first defensive play by the A's and the bickering from the previous game carried over and had started even before the first error. The Brewers picked up their third run in the first on another A's error. The tension only grew when the A's went down with a whimper in the bottom of the first, but Steve Nojima minimized the damage and got the A's headed back in the right direction, pitching a 1-2-3 second.

The Brewers (2-2) helped the A's (3-1) feel even better about what they saw in the mirror, making 3 errors in the 2nd to help the A's score 5 runs. The A's gladly took that help and helped themselves with hard hit balls shooting all over Love Field in Point Reyes, led by RBI doubles from Clinton Yeager and Mike Mastro'.

Mastro' had a career day in a career full of doubles with his first four-double game. He reached base in all 7 trips to the plate, scoring 4 times and driving in 4 more. He also dispensed some words of wisdom for the A's: "If it stops being fun, you need to stop doing it."

It wasn't fun, but it wasn't painful when he took a fastball to his body for the team, starting a 4-run fourth that broke a 6-6 tie. The Brewers made two more errors to help the cause, which included an RBI single by Brodie Nissen and RBI grounders by Nojima and Lederer.

Nojima and Lederer had plenty of fun too, with Nojima belting 3 hits, scoring 4 times and driving in 3 runs, including 2 on a triple into the hay bales in right during the 6-run sixth. Lederer drove in runs in four different trips to the plate, finishing with a two-run single up the middle in the 6-run seventh to give him 5 RBI.

Billy Dodson followed Lederer with a two-run double for his third hit. Four other A's -- Shawn Purcell, Matt Wolfe, Rene Torres and Lederer -- slapped out two hits and Nissen tied Mastro' with 4 hits and 4 RBI. The Mastro' - Nissen combination did the damage in a 3-run fifth with an RBI double by Mastro' driving in Billy Dodson before he scored on an RBI single by Nissen.

"If these guys were angry, I think they took it out on the baseball," A's manager Ryan Metcalfe said. "It hasn't been an easy start to the season for us, but I believe we turned a corner on the field and off. We are starting to come to the conclusion that this is a different team than last year and we have to do some things differently, myself including. It has been a hard adjustment going from player/manager to just manager who still wants to be a player. There is still time left for me and a lot of time left for this team to get even better.

Purcell, the A's top starting pitcher, would have picked up his first save for the A's if not for the game being called after 7 innings due to time limits. Purcell managed to pick up 5 strikeouts in two scoreless innings.

The A's expect a tougher challenge next when they play the Titans, 2 p.m., June 3 at Sonoma State University.

Mike Mastro' has been mashing doubles for years, but belted 4 doubles in a game for the first time in his 30-plus years of baseball. He added 4 runs, 4 RBI a walk and a hit by pitch to reach base in all 7 trips.

Rene Torres showed the kind of selfless spirit that made the A's winners in 06 picking up 2 hits and scoring 2 runs after pulling his hamstring in the first inning, but playing on to give the A's nine players.

Keith Lederer made a Love Connection at Love Field, making contact in four separate trips to plate to drive in runs with a two-run single in seventh giving him five RBIs in the game.

Mastro'- MVP