I think that MLB hitters just spit on the slider before, because he couldn't throw it for strikes. Now they have to respect it, which helps him get a lot more takes on his fastball, and swing-throughs on both the hard slider and the fastball.

However, he's been a bit lucky, too, as he has hung several of those slurvy sliders and gotten away with it so far. But eventually, he's going to give up some long balls on that pitch.

But heck, even if he does, I'll take that. With Duchscherer and Street out, and Calero struggling, Casilla has been a godsend. The bullpen was creaking apart before he arrived, and he just nailed things solid shut.

And then there's Colby Lewis. He was awful in that one start, but great out of the pen. And DiNardo, another waiver claim. And today, the A's just claimed Ruddy Lugo off waivers from Tampa Bay. Can the A's help Lugo find whatever magic they sprinkled on their other pitching pickups this year?

I've been suspecting for some time now that the A's have found some kind of --I hate to use the word "inefficiency" -- secret formula for pitching. I think it has something to do with pitching to contact (and defying DIPS in the process), but I have no idea what it is beyond this suspicion.

Since they can't do that, he'll probably be OK if they used him strictly as a LOOGY. He's been used against RHB more often than he should have because of all the injuries. But this past week, I think Bob Geren has rightly placed Ron Flores ahead of Marshall in the bullpen pecking order now, and I think Marshall will be used more effectively as either a pure LOOGY or a blowout innings eater from here on out.

But yeah, I had kind of written him off as another one of those pitchers with "great stuff" but no command at all (Chad Harville, Juan Cruz, etc.). He could always revert back to that, of course, but in all the appearances I've seen he's looked really sharp, so I'm willing to believe that he figured something mechanical out, and the ball's now going where he wants it to go.