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GameDay: Did Hook Cost A's In Milwaukee?

KPIX 5 Sports Director Dennis O'Donnell hosts "Gameday" every Sunday night at 11:30pm on CBS 5 and offers his unique sports analysis here.

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The reason you won't see any more 300-game winners is because of the set-up man and the closer. And when you have Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour, who could blame Bob Melvin for pulling A.J. Griffin after seven shutout innings of four-hit baseball?

Well, I can. While fully aware of the A's bullpen success, Griffin was pitching his best game of the year. Granted, I'm not privy to a possible conversation between Melvin and Griffin after the 7th inning, but Doolittle was coming off a rough outing and Griffin was dealin.'

Why not, at the very least, allow Griffin to start the 8th inning? Instead, Doolittle struggles again, A's lose, drive home safely.

On the flip side, Bruce Bochy pulls Tim Linceum after 7 innings of one-run, three-hit baseball, and Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo slam the door, Giants win, drive home safely. Brilliant managing!

How nice it is to be a studio critic!

We can table the Lincecum-to-bullpen conversation, at least for a few more starts. That was easily his best start of the year and his location was the reason. His slider and his change-up were money pitches and he's got to have them working. With his drop in velocity, he simply can't get away with location mistakes anymore. Tonight, he made only one and you saw the result, a 2-1 victory and a reprieve for Timmy.

The latest drug scandal: Do we really need this? 20 more players going down for an association with a drug pusher? I can't say I'm terribly surprised, I'm just sick of reporting this junk. I yearn for the simpler days of purple drank. You go, Jamarcus.

See you on TV.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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