Another win helps confidence level continue to grow
The A’s are rooted in Oakland, or so their corporate slogan says. But are they rooted in reality? Barely. On Sunday afternoon, the A’s finished off a sweep of the White Sox with a walkoff error leading to a 32 win, about four hours after learning that the front office pulled off a trade to shore up the rotation.
Across the bay, the Giants might be trying to decide whether they’re in or they’re out, but the A’s know exactly which they are: in. Way in.
The A’s are 12 games over .500 and finding clever and creative ways to win ballgames to keep themselves in the thick of the playoff race.
As Chad Pinder scored the winning run in the ninth, his teammates stormed the field along with Stomper the elephant, showing surprising speed and a home run swing with his broom.
Fortyfive minutes later, baseball’s most exciting team was back to being its quiet, businesslike, borderline boring self.
Several players said the current hot stretch, 17 wins in the past 22 games, is not a surprise.
“We knew at the start of the year” that we are a good team, said Stephen Piscotty, who is on the mend from a knee strain. “We got off to a bit of a slow start, but this team’s starting to click, kind of like it did last year. Got that confidence back; we’re rolling right now.
“We’re a very wellrounded team, good team chemistry, everything you would want in a club. We’ve got all the pieces, just gotta put our heads down and keep winning ballgames. It’s always a lot of fun to get in here and celebrate a little bit, then get on to the next game.”
So don’t worry about the A’s getting full of themselves. Not their style. Besides, the season’s barely half over. After home games Tuesday and Wednesday against the Mariners, the A’s wade into a crucial road trip with four games at Minnesota and three at Houston — the league’s second and thirdbest teams.
The A’s hit their low point when they were swept by the Astros, May 31June 2, but they’re 2411 since then. The Houston series will be a reality check for a team that is continually redefining reality.
On Sunday, Ramon Laureano, the center fielder from nowhere, was once again in the middle of everything. He lost a flyball in the sun in the seventh but led off the bottom of the inning with a gametying homer, his 18th. Among majorleaguers, only Mike Trout has more home runs as a center fielder.
Laureano is as lowkey as any A’s player, which is saying a lot. He spent more time in his postgame interview taking the blame for the lost flyball than he did taking credit for his power.
Just as well, because the reality is that though the A’s closed out Sunday holding onto the league’s second wildcard spot, it’s a wild and crowded field. Catching and passing Houston would require an epic second half by the A’s, but fending off teams such as the Indians, Rays and Red Sox for a wildcard berth will provide a major challenge. It will be musical chairs with several participants and only two chairs.
The A’s seem to be digging in. On Sunday morning, they traded for pitcher Homer Bailey, who was one of the worst starters in baseball last year but has been hot lately. The A’s, rather than sit back and survey the trade market, jumped on Bailey more than two weeks before the July 31 trade deadline.
“We’re not afraid to make moves early, late, whenever we feel like we can get a guy we’re targeting,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin after the trade was announced. “I think the players feel these things. Players want to feel like the front office is going out and making us better, and typically they do that. Certainly doesn’t mean we’re done, but it’s nice to get somebody in the rotation we feel’s going to make us better.”
Sunday started slow for Melvin. He was disappointed when Roger Federer lost at Wimbledon. (“That was miserable to watch . ... I was pulling for Federer,” Melvin said. “I like him, he’s a class act.”) Then Melvin got the word on the trade. Then he watched the White Sox take a 21 lead in the seventh. Then he watched the A’s win it as Pinder singled as a pinch hitter and scored when Laureano put the ball in play and shortstop Jose Rondon threw wildly past second.
It was a gift, but the kind of gift you earn from the baseball gods by playing hard and believing, and right now, the A’s are doing that as well as any team in baseball.