Warriors 103 Kings 96- Yawn, another day, another Warriors win. And when was the last time somebody said anything like that? The Warriors had to earn this game as they were down by two with a little over a minute left and rallied with Stephen Jackson nailing two three pointers in a 20 second span. He really does make a difference, doesn't he? Let's hope he stays away from the strip clubs. Anyways, Golden State is now .500 at 7-7 and now has more victories going than the Raiders and 49ers combined.

Kings 3 Sharks 2- Hey, look, the Sharks (remember them?) played a Kings too but the one from LA and not Sacramento. And unlike the Warriors, they lost, losing in a shoot out. The Kings may be a lousy, lousy team, but they seem to have a big enough boat as it's their third victory at San Jose's expense. That's about a third of their victories at this point. Ouch.

-Hey, using young pitchers as trade bait just ain't for the Giants either-- reports out there say that the A's Danny Haren and Joe Blanton are being dangled in front of the usual slathering big market teams, mainly the New York Metropolitans. ESPN's Buster Olney has actually been throwing out the idea that Haren is actually a better deal than Johan Santana. He's cheaper, younger, has years left on his contract, and has the makings of being almost Santana-like.

And on that note, the purported reason for why Beane is shopping around two of his aces is because after looking out and seeing the Giants, 49ers, and Raiders stink up the joint, he’s decided that he’s all in on joining them and is nipping at the bud to begin yet another rebuilding process. Sigh.

This actually happened to us-- we were walking down 16th street wearing our trusty baggy Giants sweatshirt (we like our sweatshirts baggy) when we walked past a homeless guy who actually said, "I like your sweatshirt. It looks good on someone as big as you."

Yes, some homeless guy called us fat. Needless to say, we did not give him any spare change.

Warriors 129 Suns 114- So the Phoenix Suns, a team that many pick to win the title this year and a team that was possibly one horrendous David Stern judgment from winning the title last year, came into the Oracle riding an eight game winning streak. So what happened? The Warriors whumped 'em. Monta Ellis had 31 points, including 15 consecutive points in the fourth quarter, and Stephen Jackson had 32 to beat PHX. The Warriors have now won six out of seven, leading to the inevitable joke about how they've totaled the amount of victories of both football teams, but as everyone's in a good mood about football, we'll leave it better off alone.

-It looks like the Raiders victory over the Chiefs is going to delay the Coming of JaMarcus at least a week as "Long Balls" Lane Kiffin has already announced Duante as the starting QB next week against the Broncos. We're not sure what the point of all this is either, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Raiders are technically only three games behind division leading San Diego.

-Is Sabean going to trade Tim the Enchanter for Miguel Cabrera? Were the A's really interested in Barry before the whole indictment thing? Read it for yourself.

Image by Jose Carlos Fajardo of the Contra Costa Times.

This beating reminded everyone that there is-indeed--a real pennant race fomenting in the AL West. However, the Rangers should take a very hard look at the all-encompassing big picture scoreboard-the Athletics won that series by dominating the small things. And they beat Texas by going toe-to-toe with one of the best offenses in the American League. Moreover, the real battle was won in the trenches-through superior bullpen action, sans Joe Kennedy, Scott Sauerbeck and the rest of the DL boys, a smothering defense and timely hitting from Jay Payton, not through caveman-like hacking at off-speed pitches that Ranger batters have mastered.

The Athletics, with their crudely assembled line-up, made the critical plays when they counted most. For instance, Bobby Crosby goes on the DL, enter utility-man extraordinaire Marco Scutaro, to solidify the shortstop position and play like a wizard. And the guy is a rock! If you notice, not many ground balls get past the Scutaro-Chavez phalanx. Then, there is Jay Payton. Exactly! Who the hell is Jay Payton? He's only the guy whose been riding a 12-game hitting streak, batting over .330 since June 11 and smashing meaningful home runs to either tie a game or put the A's in the lead. He even smashed a 4-bagger off his greatest nemesis, Texas pitcher Kevin Millwood. But we digress.

Beane, like Brian Sabean of SF Giants hype, makes his bones when it counts most-- during the trade deadline. This year, the flutter of butterfly wings could be heard from the A's camp. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Barry Zito's name would pop occasionally, but without much merit or context. Beane shifted his strategy to last off-season instead, picking up perpetually cranky Milton Bradley and an aging agit-prop artist Frank Thomas to bolster the cheese-whiffing line-up. He added Esteban Loaiza (gulp!) to support the pitching staff. If anything, Beane has foresight. Odds are always in favor of Rich Harden straining an oblique muscle or a hammy or whatever muscle we’ve never heard of, and to miss significant time. The A's receive mega-bonus points when he returns. Moreover, the Kirk Saarloos-Brad Halsey conundrum, a project of deep curiosity to SFist, has actually worked for the better part of selected innings here and there.

Ultimately, Beane's genius for finding the right kind of 'mannish' man to slash the A's into the playoffs will be measured by Milton Bradley's fire. The otherwise light-hitting, vanilla line-up Beane assembles each year, typically has that one white-hot firebrand that carries them after the all-star break. In the past, it was Tejada, and to some extent, Giambi when he was focused on success and not his physique. Today, Bradley is their 4-tool horse who, despite his cantankerous nature, is their best player, and can carry a squad of grown men on his back. Just ask BJ Ryan of Toronto. On Sunday, Bradley took Ryan’s best body blows and wacked a 400-plus foot walk-off bomb over the centerfield fence. What every half-witted prognosticator ever predicted about Bradley’s talents will finally be proven correct this fall-- the dude rules! Plus, the A's own the month of August. After last nights lackluster showing, they are 103-40 during the month of August since 2001. What is that, a .725 winning percentage? Truly off the scale, and why they'll beat the great pretenders from the South.

SFist Kevin contributing