The hot hitting A's By Jerry Feitelberg July 28, 2011     The Oakland Athletics have played thirteen games since the All-Star break and have won 8 and lost 5 including today's loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The players seem to have found their ability to put the ball in play and get hits. The team is hitting over .300 in those games and they look like an entirely different team than the one that could not hit at all in the first half of the season. Prior to the break the A's had a team batting average of .233. They had a winning record in games in which they scored four or more runs but that didn't happen very often. It was painful to watch them as they could not get a key hit when they needed one and they did not do well when they were behind late in the game. What happened? Was it due to the change in managers? Did the hitting coach do anything differently? Is it because opposing pitchers have lost some velocity or can't locate their pitches? No one knows for sure but they are playing a different brand of ball right now. Even though they lost the game today, the A's scored five runs in the first inning and they had a two homer game. They have scored five or more runs in 8 or 9 of the thirteen games played. They are still eleven games under .500 but it looks like the hitting has come around and if the pitching stays good they could end up at .500 for the year. Stranger things have happened. It seem that hitting is contagious. All the players are now contributing to the offense. Cliff Pennington has a twelve game hitting streak and Hideki Matsui has raised his average about 20 points since the break. Conor Jackson and Kurt Suzuki hit home runs today. Guys, keep up the good work !!

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