Beasley and Bright only allowed four official hits by the Mallards, but the A's recent defensive woes continued, clocking four perfectly timed errors, every one of which the Mallards batters pounced on to produce four runs. That would be enough, as O'Donnell held serve even through another late-inning A's comeback attempt that brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the 9th. Final score was 4-2 Mallards.

O'Donnell got the win and Beasley got the loss, but both pitchers logged admirable performances that saw 25 total runners left on base. Scarcely a line drive found the outfield grass except during the A's ill-fated rally in which Manny Rivera launched the only truly authoritative hit of the night -- an RBI double to deep left-center -- and there were some scrappy multi-hit performances by Bright, Bryner, and Hernandez for the A's, as well as by Dane Pepper for the Mallards. Schaefer and Adam notched the other two Mallards hits, and Bright, Cantwell, and Witkowski all swiped bases.

The A's enter the Memorial Day break in the midst of a drama-filled skid that features four straight games in which they rallied to put the winning run at the plate or on base, only one of which saw the A's prevail. The Mallards go up 2-1 in the season series between the teams, and they will meet again after the break, at Cosca on May 31.

Wednesday's video highlights will be posted to YouTube in a few days - stay tuned for the URL.

Update 5/25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE2lrbDI6A4