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I believe that is a 4 game series as the Thursday game in Tampa...errr St. Pete will make up that half game.
Even better, all Yankee defeats are welcome at this point.
After such a magical season for the A's, their clinching occurred in such a manner that the celebration is diluted.
Had the Rays lost just five minutes earlier, the A's could have celebrated a bit before starting their game. The news came with one out in the top of the first and they couldn't stop the game to stage a party in the Mariner's house, so they will have to wait until this game is over. Now if the A's win, they can dance around a bit on the field if they so wish, but if they drop this game, it would be bad form to celebrate until they reached the privacy of the clubhouse. And of course their spontaneous joy will be exercised three hours after they learned of it.
It is the top of the 8th with the A's leading 5-3.
In a back and forth, high scoring game for Safeco field standards, there were 11 runs scored combined in the first 3 innings, the A's pulled away in the middle innings to go up 8-5, and were looking good with that vaunted pen. However, it was not meant to be on this evening as Rodney gave up 2 runs in the 8th to cut the lead to 1, Treinen gave up the tying run in the 9th, and Emilo Pagan served up the game winning home run to backup catcher Chris Herman for the 8-10 loss. That gives the Astros the division after they won in Toronto earlier Tuesday, when they are sound asleep seeing as the game ended at about 2:09 AM Toronto time, and knocks the Yankees magic number to host the Wildcard game down to 2 after they were big winners Tuesday over the Rays.
It wasn't Treinen's fault, he had the game won but was done in by an error from Matt Chapman, the best defensive thirdbaseman in MLB. It was a frustrating error, with two outs a groundball was hit directly to Chapman but the ball got trapped in the webbing rather than the pocket, and when Chapman reached into the pocket to retrieve the ball, he popped it out of his mitt, juggled it twice..and then it was too late to make a throw. Just one of those little things that in this case, had game changing consequences.
A's lose to the Angels, but it didn't matter as earlier on Friday the Yankees outslugged the Red Sox, so the Yankees will host the Wildcard game in the Bronx on Wednesday. It would be nice to finish with 98 wins, but I'd rather finish with 96 wins, and have everyone well rested and ready to go in New York on Wednesday evening, then someone getting hurt trying to chase a couple more wins which at this point in time are meaningless outside of the final tally. If I were Melvin, I sit Chapman, Davis, Olson (maybe Lowrie too) for Saturday's game, give them a break because they've earned it, start them on Sunday, but take them out after the 5th or 6th when they've had a couple AB's, but will be interesting to see what Melvin does here these last 2 games.
A's lose to the Angels, but it didn't matter as earlier on Friday the Yankees outslugged the Red Sox, so the Yankees will host the Wildcard game in the Bronx on Wednesday. It would be nice to finish with 98 wins, but I'd rather finish with 96 wins, and have everyone well rested and ready to go in New York on Wednesday evening, then someone getting hurt trying to chase a couple more wins which at this point in time are meaningless outside of the final tally. If I were Melvin, I sit Chapman, Davis, Olson (maybe Lowrie too) for Saturday's game, give them a break because they've earned it, start them on Sunday, but take them out after the 5th or 6th when they've had a couple AB's, but will be interesting to see what Melvin does here these last 2 games.
They will have two days off before playing on Wednesday, so everyone will get some rest, probably better to let the regulars keep sharp by playing in the last two games. And then after Wednesday, one of the two teams will have until next March to rest.
Can you guys tell me why Melvin is choosing Hendricks of all people to start the game?
Hendricks doesn't start games, he "opens" them. He pitches one inning and gets replaced. The A's starting rotation was shaky all year until August, then it was quite good, and then Manaea got hurt and is out for the year, Anderson got hurt and has been lousy since coming back, so the A's have abandoned tradition for some of the rotation spots and have planned bullpen games. It will be Hendricks and at least three or four other guys.
Hendricks had not been much good this season, going into September with a 7.82 ERA. But then he was quite good as an opener, he was unscored upon in 8 consecutive one inning stints to begin the games. His ERA dropped to 4.33.
Melvin's handling of a messy pitching situation has been brilliant all year. He really got the most anyone could expect from the staff. It should get him Manager of the Year.
Ah got it. The A’s are always innovating, it just didn’t work out tonight. Here’s hoping they’ll be more-than-watchable again next year.
Billy's teams typically are competitive for 3 to 4 seasons once the rebuilding is done, so I look for them to be in the mix for another couple of years, and then once more the team won't be able to afford to retain their stars and the next rebuild begins.
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