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		The June swoon for the A's By Jerry Feitelberg June 22, 2010

	The Oakland A’s continued their downward spiral as they lost for the second straight night to the Cincinnati Reds. So far this month, the A’s have compiled a record of 6 wins against 15 losses to fall 5 games under the .500 mark and are now 9 ½ games out first place in the American League West. The only team with a worse record for June is the Baltimore Orioles. The A’s are a team that was built on the premise of winning by preventing opponents from scoring runs. The team featured strong pitching, a solid bullpen and a good defense to go along with an offense, while short on power, could win games with timely hitting. The theory was predicated on a return to form by pitcher Ben Sheets. So far, Sheets has won but 2 games and has not been the Ben Sheets of old. Brett Anderson started well but is now on the disabled list, Dallas Braden has not won a game since he pitched his perfect game on May 9th and has had a tender elbow The bullpen has also not been as effective as it was earlier in the season. Are the relievers overworked? Looks that way .Michael Wuertz has not been effective as he was last year and has an ERA of 9.24 so far this year. Tyson Ross started out well but has an ERA of 10.57 in his last 10 games. The A’s defense has made 8 errors in the last 10 games and needs to get better if the A’s try to turn the ship around. As for the hitting, the A’s do not have any big power bats in the lineup. Kouzmanoff is leading the club with 8 home runs to his credit but is batting 6th in the lineup for some strange reason. He is their hottest hitter and should be moved up to the 4th or 5th spot in the order. The A’s hoped that Eric Chavez could regain his form and supply some power but Chavez is back on the Disabled list and there is doubt as to if and when he will return. The A’s have to make moves now or they are in danger of falling out contention. The club is almost at the halfway point in the season. Get it going, guys.