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		The A’s strike out… 17 times By Charlie O. Mallonee May 30, 2010
	Oakland Athletics' Ryan Sweeney reacts after striking out against Detroit Tigers' Max Scherzer in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 30, 2010, in Detroit. The Tigers defeated the Athletics 10-2. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
	The A’s had 31 plate appearances on Sunday in Detroit. In 17 of those appearances, Oakland hitters struck out as the Tigers defeated the A’s 10-2. Detroit starter - Max Scherzer – faced 17 Oakland hitters and struck out 14 of them. Only a 113-pitch count chased Scherzer to the showers. Scherzer – 2-4, 6.42 ERA – had just been called up from Triple-A after being sent down by the Tigers. He had made two starts in Toledo and was returned to the Tigers to see how he would do back in the majors. After his performance on Sunday, Scherzer will be making his next start in a Tigers uniform. Scherzer went 5.2 innings giving up no runs on just two hits. He struck out 14 while walking four in posting his second win of the season. After Scherzer went to the showers, the A’s tried to make a game of it. Down 5-0 heading into the seventh inning, Daric Barton hit a two-run homer over the right field fence to make it a 5-2 game. Just as looked like the A’s might overcome those strike outs and make a game of it, the Tigers came roaring back in the home half of the eighth inning The Tigers capitalized on a Landon Powell throwing error, a Magglio Ordonez RBI-single and a Miguel Cabrera 3-run home run to put the game out of reach at 10-2. Not only did Dallas Braden lose the spotlight to Roy Halladay on Saturday, he lost the game on Sunday as well. Braden went 6.0 innings giving up five runs (all earned) on 11 hits that included two home runs. He struck out five walking just one batter. Braden – who has been nursing a sprained ankle – has really struggled since throwing that perfect game. With the loss on Sunday, Braden’s record has fallen to 4-5. A’s to play on Memorial Day The A’s will wrap up their four-game visit to Detroit on Memorial Day. You might not see that as news worthy except for the fact Oakland did not play on Memorial Day 2009. The A’s spent the day traveling. Rather than a full slate of 15 major league games on Memorial Day, there will be just 13 games. The Texas Rangers are one of the teams that will have the holiday off. Want to be perfect? It appears that one of the keys to pitching a perfect game is face a MLB team from Florida. Dallas Braden threw his perfect game versus the Tampa Bay Rays. Roy Halladay tossed his perfect game on Saturday against the Florida Marlins.