Off in a cloud of Dust

Yeager's grit sparks A's to 9-0 victory; Purcell pitches 6 shutout innings

Clinton Yeager's jersey was covered in dirt before the first out was made, which was a good sign for the A's that things were starting to feel a lot like last year perhaps even better.

Yeager led off the bottom of the first with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on an infield single by Shawn Purcell (that could have been a fielder' choice had Yeager been content at first) and dove home in a cloud of dust on a past ball that bounced only a couple yards from the plate.

"It was great to see Clint return to his old dirt-baggie self," A's manager Ryan Metcalfe said grinning ear to ear. "When he gets on and running it fires up the whole team and our fans. I think that throw he made fired us up even more."

Yeager dusted himself off enough to make a charging scoop on a second-inning, on-out single up the middle and launch his whole body behind a throw to the plate (at least 250 feet on a fly) to Brodie Nissen, who simply needed to drop his glove down to erase the Blue Jays only scoring threat in a 9-0 victory Sunday.

Mike Mastro' followed with another bare handed grab and running throw on a low roller to third that ended the second inning. Purcell induced a double-play grounder to Billy Dodson at short then struck out Blue Jays leadoff hitter Ryan Russell for the second time to carry the A's into the third with a 1-0 lead and plenty momentum.

Yeager made sure the A's maintained that momentum leading off the third with an infield single and Purcell followed with another to set the table for a sacrifice fly by Dodson, who was one of two A's not to reach first in the third inning. Mike Mastro's RBI single to right drove in Purcell, who made a headsy steal of second during a conference at the mound.

A series of errors and walks and even a hit by pitch endured by Nissen kept a streak of five-straight batters reaching first without the aid of a hit. Kevin Metcalfe ended that streak with a solid fly to left that was deep enough to score Steve Nojima, who walked, and went even deeper when the left fielder misplayed the ball, allowing Metcalfe to reach first and score Rene Torres, who also reached on an error and drove in a run with a bases loaded grounder. Matt Wolfe walled and slid home safely on a wild pitch to make the lead 8-0 after three innings.

Purcell didn't need any more, in fact he didn't even need the 7-run third to get the vicotry. Purcell pitched his most dominant game of the season, allowing just four hits, two walks and no runs in six quick innings. He struck out Chris Hendry, the Blue Jays' top hitter, to end the sixth and was removed to share the work even if Purcell was ready and willing to go the distance.

Purcell gave way to Nojima, who pitched two scoreless innings to continue the shutout with little drama. After a one-out error game the Blue Jays runners on frst and second with one out, Nojima dug down for a pair of strikeouts, the first on a nasty back-door curve to Steve Hillman, who was 2-for-2 at the time.

Dodson helped Nojima out of trouble in the eight snaring a soft liner and throwing to first for  double play. Dodson then helped the A's end the game unscathed, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth.

"That's the best Steve has thrown all year," Nissen said. "He really had some zip on his fastball. Billy looked sharp too. ... There were a couple times there where Shawn and his curve ball were just a little unfair."

Keith Lederer made a nice diving catch in right and showed signs of breaking out of a slump with a solid single to right and a second hit to the same spot, only it was a liner right to the second baseman.

Yeager may wash his uniform, but the A's will be in good shape if it no longer makes it out of the first inning unscathed. His next test is against the Padres, 2 p.m. Sunday, June 17.

Clinton Yeager came into the game focused, scoring the A's first two runs before the second out in the third was recorded.

Shawn Purcell went 3-for-5 at the plate to nearly get as many hits as he gave up (4) in six shutout innings of a 9-0 victory.

Purcell- MVP