You score sixteen runs, and what do you get?
Another win closer... but they're not there yet.

[with apologies to Merle Travis]

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Brandon McCarthy in April 2007: 10.20 ERA, 2.07 WHIP, 15.0 IP, 25 hits, 17 ER, 6 BB, 7 K

Esteban Loaiza in April 2006: 8.35 ERA, 2.13 WHIP, 18.1 IP, 30 hits, 17 ER, 9 BB, 6 K

Fair comparison? McCarthy is not this bad, and will rebound. It's nice to get a W in the launching pad at Arlington, though. Oakland went 5-5 on the road against the Rangers last season.

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And now, some trivia about past games in which Oakland has scored 16 runs:

Since 1957, there have been 13 games in which the A's have scored exactly 16 runs. They are 12-1 in those games, with the only loss coming in 2000 in a slugfest won by Texas 17-16.

The last season in which Oakland scored at least 16 runs was way back in 2005, when they did it twice. Many still fondly recall the 16-0 beatdown of the Giants in June -- a game in which a fresh-off-the-DL Rich Harden gave up one hit and the A's banged out 23.

The last time the A's scored 16 was at a game I happened to have attended. Oakland was in Kansas City to visit the Royals in the midst of another headlong rush at 100 losses. The one and only Jose Lima pitched, and Dan Johnson knocked out the 10th homer of his rookie season. Oh, and current Sacramento River Cat Donnie Murphy made an error for his then-employer Kansas City.

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With a double, home run and three walks, Travis Buck now leads the A's with a .440 on-base percentage. That puts him at 9th in the American League among all players with at least 50 plate appearances, while his OPS of 1.004 places him 8th in the AL. Pretty good so far for a rookie that came into the season with exactly zero at-bats above the double-A level.

Oddly enough, the last A's rookie to get on base five times in one game was Dan Johnson, in the aforementioned 16-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. Johnson had two hits and three walks, including a homer. Someone needs to warn Buck about the dangers of sunscreen in your eyes, and soon.