Playoff emotions special for Piscotty

SEATTLE — Oakland’s playoff-clinching celebration Monday was extra special for the one Oakland player who was raised an A’s fan.

“It really dawned on me that this is the team I grew up watching,” said Stephen Piscotty, who is from Pleasanton. “Now I’m going to the playoffs with this team. It sank in while we were celebrating and kind of gave me chills. I was a little at a loss for words. I was really proud of that and really excited.”

Marcus Semien (El Cerrito) and Mark Canha (San Jose) are the other A’s with local roots but both grew up Giants fans.

Piscotty’s emotional season has been well-documented, coming home to the Bay Area in a trade with the Cardinals to be near his mother, Gretchen, before her death from ALS on May 6. Piscotty has turned into a force with the A’s, with a career-high 26 homers and 41 doubles; he’s having an especially strong September, batting .329 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in 21 games, and he was a runner-up for AL Player of the Week last week.

Along with Khris Davis, Piscotty was one of the first A’s players to get days off now that Oakland is assured of at least the second wild-card spot; manager Bob Melvin will try to get many of his regulars a game off before the end of the season while also still trying to gain home-field advantage. Matt Chapman and Ramón Laureano are likely to be off Wednesday and the team is off Thursday, giving the regulars who are off either Wednesday or Friday two days of rest in a row.

Piscotty, who had started every game since Aug. 13, did not want to be off two days in a row because he thinks that much time can disrupt his rhythm, so when Melvin asked him, he said Tuesday would be his preference.

The one player who will not get any time off: Semien, the shortstop who wants to play in every inning possible.

“I don’t need that kind of headache,” Melvin said, “and he’s shown that physically, he never looks like he’s run down. He never looks like he’s tired.”

Melvin said that first baseman Matt Olson will get a start off some day but whenever it is, he will come off the bench at some point to ensure that he is the only player in the league to play 162 games this season.

Davis’ game off was his first since June 22 and his first start off since July 15.