Barton and hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo, Geren explained, have been trying to correct a flaw in Barton's swing plane, trying to level things out.
"It helps keep the ball out of the air," said the skipper.
Yes, kids, line drives are good. Especially when they clear the outfield wall. That's what Barton's bolt to right field did a couple of hours later, sparking Oakland to a 2-1 victory in the opener of a three-game series at Angel Stadium.
Barton, who entered the game with the lowest batting average among big league regulars (.211) and the lowest slugging percentage in the American League (.313), went deep off Angels starter Jered Weaver with one out in the third inning for his sixth hit -- and second home run -- in 11 at-bats since breaking out of an 0-for-14 funk Saturday in Seattle.
"I'm definitely feeling more confident," Barton said. "The big thing with me, though, has always been patience. I'm being a lot more patient lately and getting my pitch."
Barton wasn't the only rookie to have a big night. The A's got seven strong innings from Dallas Braden, who gave up three hits -- without allowing a run -- in the bottom of the first but just four hits thereafter. He consistently got ahead in the count, worked quickly and sailed through his outing on 82 pitches, walking zero and striking out zero.
"Dallas was outstanding," Geren said. "And that first inning was huge."
Chone Figgins opened the Angels' first with a single, but Braden picked him off. Erick Aybar then singled, and after Mark Teixeira popped out, Torii Hunter laced a single to left. Oakland left fielder Jack Cust came up throwing and nailed Aybar at third base to end the inning.
"It was awesome," Braden said. "Nobody wants to get into a hole, especially against these guys. What are they, 148-2 or something? It's ridiculous."
Actually, the loss dropped the Angels to a mere 79-51, shaving their lead over third-place Oakland in the American League West to 19 1/2 games.
"It's one of those things where we faced a guy who kept our hitters off balance," Weaver said. "Sometimes you just have to tip your cap, and obviously the guy did real well. There's nothing you can do about it."
The A's touched Weaver for another run in the fourth when Frank Thomas drew his second walk of the game, did a slow-motion rumble to third on a double by Jack Hannahan and scored when a Weaver sinker bounced in the dirt, ticked off catcher Mike Napoli's chest protector and zipped all the way to the backstop.
"We got a break on the wild pitch," Geren conceded.
As Napoli stepped into the batter's box to open the Halos' half of the sixth, the scoreboard flashed a graphic noting that three of Napoli's four hits against the A's on the year had been home runs.
Make that four of his five hits against the A's. Braden's first pitch landed well into the right-field bleachers, and the game was on.
Fortunately for Oakland, its defense and bullpen were up to the task. Braden's finest moment might have come in the seventh, when he made a deft diving stop of Howie Kendrick's bunt up the third-base line and quickly spun to throw a strike from his knees to end the inning.
"Pitchers don't get many chances to make sweet plays like that, so that was pretty cool," Braden said.
Braden's glove work was part of one of Oakland's better defensive outings of the season.
Cust's throw to cut down Aybar needed to be perfect, and was.
Third baseman Hannahan wowed the crowd with a brilliant backhanded stop of a smash by Teixeira before throwing a dart across the diamond to end the fifth.
One play earlier, Barton saved Hannahan from a potential error by leaping for a high throw off the bag and making a sweep tag of Aybar at first base.
And during righty reliever Joey Devine's perfect eighth inning, the only batter to put the ball in play was pinch-hitter Garret Anderson, whose grounder Barton gobbled up while ranging to his right before a perfect feed to Devine at the bag.
"I really think our defense is one of the best in baseball," Geren said.
The only miscue came with two out in the bottom of the ninth, on a play very similar to the one Barton made on Anderson. This time, Barton handled a grounder from Teixeira but overthrew closer Brad Ziegler, bringing Torii Hunter to the plate as the potential winning run.
Ziegler quickly picked up up his fellow rookie, inducing a weak grounder to shortstop that Bobby Crosby flipped to second baseman Eric Patterson for a game-ending forceout.
"It was a really nice victory," Braden said. "All the way around."
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