A win-win situation
Scrutinizing standings from a few angles
Just for a moment, put aside the A’s wild-card race with Seattle and consider an even more invigorating story line in that department: Oakland hunting down the New York Yankees.
Yes, that is actually happening.
On a pleasant Monday evening at the Coliseum, before a crowd just north of nobody, the A’s stunning roll continued with a 7-6 victory over the Mariners. Because it was a one-sided affair most the way, and the club’s fans largely content to stay home, one’s attention drifted to the out-of-
town scoreboard.
Out there, news came forth that the Yankees took an 8-5 loss to the terrible Mets, and if you can come to grips with Oakland paying
any attention to the mighty AL East, this is no longer a flight of fancy. The A’s, with 37 wins in their past 49 games, trail the Yanks by just 3½ games.
That’s just plain crazy. The high-payroll Yanks, with Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, a flock of tremendous young players and a lightsout bullpen, wondering if they’ll be caught by a cheapskate Oakland franchise essentially dismissed as a contender just a few weeks ago.
To call it false-hope nonsense would be to ignore the reality of this year’s baseball season, with legitimate surges by the Braves and Phillies, the Nationals looking utterly hopeless, and the Red Sox taking a serious run at the all-time wins record. Crazy, it seems, is the new normal.
It’s that last development that has rattled the Yankees, perhaps to the point of resignation. Now a full 10 games behind Boston, they might find it pointless to overwork their pitching staff in a desperate run for a division title well beyond their grasp. And if that happens — a powerful source of motivation no longer an option — perhaps the New Yorkers will appear even more vulnerable.
Turning our attention back to the Coliseum — hey, how about that crowd?
It was announced at 10,400, an honest if slightly generous assessment. It is now apparent that “big game,” which absolutely describes Monday night’s series opener, does not resonate with fans beaten down by the A’s seemingly endless ballpark search. In the absence of novelty — get in free, Giants in town, that sort of thing — get ready for outright desolation at the Coliseum.
“Embarrassing,” as one A’s staffer so aptly put it.
This game deserved an audience of 25,000, minimum, although it’s such old news around here, I’m not sure it’s even worth a mention. Of course, the attendance was disgraceful. What’s happening on the field is quite another story.
The Mariners were flying high as they arrived in Oakland, having swept a fourgame series in Houston and reviving their season just in time. Only a week ago, in a 9-18 funk with longtime ace Felix Hernandez pitching his way out of the rotation, they were basically written off as a serious threat. They won’t be vanishing anytime soon, but this wasn’t their idea of an ideal series opener.
There are those who claim the A’s don’t have that bright-lights superstar, along the lines of Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts or Mike Trout, but they exude a lesser brand of stardom. Sean Manaea (72⁄3 effortless innings, five hits) is developing into one of the league’s top starters. Khris Davis surely will become the first player in Oakland history to hit at least 40 homers for three straight seasons. That master of doubles, Jed Lowrie, cranked out two more Monday night, each a thing of beauty to the opposite field. And Matt Chapman, with three doubles and a sparkling defensive play at third base, convinced more voters around the country that he deserves a top-10 finish, at least, in the MVP balloting.
Because starters simply are not allowed to finish what they start, this game got a little too interesting — just as it did for the Giants last week, in games started by Dereck Rodriguez and Madison Bumgarner, or for Washington’s Max Scherzer on Sunday, or for the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw against the Giants on Monday night. Brilliant starter leaves the game, and the whole mood changes.
In this case, Manaea had thrown just 82 pitches entering the eighth inning, but after getting two quick outs with a six-run lead, he was removed after Mitch Haniger’s single. There’s no indication the A’s bullpen will make a habit of this — it recorded an MLB-best 3.01 ERA over the previous 48 games — but things got decidedly ugly with Emilio Pagan, Lou Trivino, Jeurys Familia and Blake Treinen struggling with their command.
At the brink of collapse, the lead down to a precarious run and two men on in the ninth, Treinen struck out Nelson Cruz on a nasty breaking pitch to end the game. That looked familiar. Just like the A’s of late, and their earnest postgame handshakes and the vacancy of their home stadium. Let the standings tell it best.