Game 6 Analysis: Oakland Athletics Offense Remains Punchless in Loss to Royals

This is starting to become a bad habit for the A's offense. As the rain poured down, Oakland was unable to do much of anything with Royals starter Danny Duffy and were shut out 3-0 in a game shortened by steady rain in the Coliseum.

Graham Godfrey pitched well, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk in six innings of work. However, the two runs he surrendered in the fourth inning were more than enough for Duffy to cruise, as the A's looked largely punchless. Cliff Pennington's double in the bottom of the third was the A's only hit of the game, and even that did not last, as Pennington was easily picked off by Duffy to end the threat.

Unfortunately, Godfrey's pitching performance will be largely lost due to the offensive struggles. Spotting his pitches effectively, Godfrey was able to play to his strengths by letting the Royals hit lazy fly balls in the heavy, rain-filled air. His only real mistake was a fastball he did not locate, which resulted in an RBI double.

Catcher Humberto Quintero hit a sacrifice fly to Colin Cowgill whose good throw was late to home, allowing Jeff Francoeur to score the second run. Reliever Jerry Blevins gave up a solo home run to pinch hitter Mitch Maier to conclude the scoring. Once the rain intensified, the game's second delay began and crew chief Jim Joyce called the game in the seventh.

Good: Graham Godfrey. While he was not outstanding, he did keep the A's in the game with his performance. This helps to justify manager Bob Melvin's decision to keep Godfrey over Tyson Ross, who had arguably the best spring of all the A's starting pitchers.

Bad: Jerry Blevins. Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of "Everyday Jerry," but games like this make me wish for the days of Mike Magnante or Mike Mohler. Blevins immediately gave up a home run and walk and that insurance run was more than enough for Kansas City.

Ugly: The A's hitting. For the second straight night, the offense was inept. Tom Milone made a single run stand up in the opener, but this theme looks much too familiar: making an average pitcher look like a Cy Young candidate. Danny Duffy is an average starting pitcher, but of his five career wins, three have come against Oakland. Mustering only one hit and striking out 10 times is not going to beat Sacramento, let alone MLB teams. What's disturbing is that in six games, the A's have scored 16 runs and seven of those were in one game alone. It is early, but red flags are starting to arise.

The rubber game of the series pits Brandon McCarthy against Bruce Chen. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35 p.m. at the Coliseum.