ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – He smiles when the subject is brought up, and it has come up twice now in seven days.
Mike Piazza came within a triple of hitting for his first cycle during the A’s 12-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Thursday. On Aug. 16, he was a double shy of the cycle in an 8-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Piazza appears to have a ticket punched for the Hall of Fame. He holds the major league record for career home runs by a catcher. So what would an accomplishment like hitting for the cycle mean?
“Its just not meant to be, I’m already resigned to that fact,” Piazza said.
He finished 4 for 5 with five RBIs and hit his fifth homer this season (No. 424 for his career).
Piazza provided a big tease in the eighth inning, when he needed the triple and lashed a drive to the gap in right-center field. Piazza looked like he had thoughts of going to third as he approached second, but he wouldn’t have made it.
“I saw it. The cutoff man had it,” he said. “It would have been cheesy to go for it.”
• Piazza did not start Wednesday’s victory against Toronto as Jack Cust handled designated-hitter duties.
Piazza is impressed by Cust, who leads the team with 22 homers and 68 RBIs and seems to have found a home after several years toiling in the minors.
“You watch him hit this year and you can’t understand how he wasn’t doing this earlier (in his career),” Piazza said. “I think he’s just really a great find for this club. He fits in with what they do. He’s a great story and there’s no reason why he can’t keep doing it.”
• Marco Scutaro was a late scratch at shortstop when he started feeling dizzy Thursday.
“I thought it was because I hadn’t eaten anything. But I still (felt dizzy after eating),” he said.
Scutaro was waiting to be further examined by a doctor before the game.
He said he has had a ringing sensation in one of his ears that started during a flight on the team’s last trip, and doctors have told him that could be tied to his current condition.
• Third baseman Eric Chavez (lower-back spasms) swung a bat Wednesday for the first time since going on the disabled list Aug. 3.
