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Well, it's an A's off day, so we're all paying attention to the Angels vs. Red Sox in Boston. This game will determine whether the A's are 1 or 2 games back when the Halos roll into the Coliseum on Friday.
Although the A's have dropped plenty of games in the standings lately and the Angels have reeled off some wins, it's not like the Angels are lighting the world on fire. Take a look at the August stats (with MLB ranks):
| A's | Angels | |
| AVG | .226 (28th) | .238 (24th) |
| OBP | .303 (21st) | .304 (19th) |
| SLG | .347 (24th) | .369 (20th) |
| Runs Scored | 73 (15th) | 72 (16th) |
| wRC+ | 86 (22nd) | 92 (15th) |
| wOBA | .291 (23rd) | .297 (20th) |
| Runs Against | 73 (14th) | 67 (10th) |
| ERA | 3.63 (16th) | 3.24 (8th) |
| Total W-L | 8-11 | 11-7 |
So yeah, the Angels have been getting the job done, but surprisingly the offenses have been about the same. The A's ERA is bad but overall run prevention has been average. Not anywhere near where it needs to be for the "4 aces" staff. But there is no way the A's offense really is 22nd in the league, and the staff is 16th.
However, wins are wins and the Angels find themselves in first place. Now would be a good time for these stats to start "normalizing" for the A's, though. An Angels offense that finds themselves scuffling a bit might not enjoy facing Gray, Kazmir, and Lester. And the A's offense might be awakened by facing some relatively average pitching.
Hope springs eternal. Can't wait for Friday.
In the meantime...maybe Cespy and the Red Sox can help us out.
