Hello, A’s Nation, hello, Sunday! It’s been something of a wild week! We’re creeping closer and closer to the Hunt for October, which we’ve all been seeing the A’s jet for in ... maybe our wildest dreams and fantasies, but not in a thought space where actual rational thought roams. At least, not until about a month ago.
Remember when we were stoked enough just to be above .500? It’s time once again to talk about the awesome stuff this team has done, in the next edition of ...
Stunning comebacks have become so common to us this season that after the first loss to the Rockies on Friday night, I sat there for a while after the game ended, remote in hand, wondering why we’d just ... lost. We were down, and then the game ended. Poof, just like that. Like we’re some normal team.
That’s why we’re gonna turn back the calendar and talk about Tuesday against the Rangers. When the seventh inning rolled around and we were down 10-2, it felt fairly safe to chalk that game up as another lopsided loss to go along with the others that have peppered their way between all our stunning W’s. That’s when the A’s woke up. It’s as if the team said, “Well, we haven’t set a record in a few days, let’s see if we can stage the biggest comeback in Oakland history.”
No one actually said these words, but Brett Anderson said something close.
Our offense is a joke
— Brett Anderson (@_BAnderson30_) July 25, 2018
(This guy does my job for me)
The A’s scored 11 unanswered runs to destroy the Rangers 13-10 on their home turf. Piscotty pushed the game into extras with a ninth-inning home run. One inning later, Khrush launched a dinger that brought Martini and Lowrie in, as well as what tuned out to be the win.
Anyone else out there wanna still be a Khrush hater? If there were any stragglers left, Khris obliterated them when he came back the next night with two more dingers. The first, in the seventh, put the A’s within one. The second came on two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth inning. His two-run shot secured the victory for the Green and Gold, and more hero status for Davis.
The Rangers were left swept as we crept closer and closer to the Mariners.
The A’s are 40-0 this season when leading after seven innings. After eight? 48-0. In their last 28 games, the A’s have come from behind to win 17 times.
In some less than wonderful news, Kendall Graveman is done for the season as he is to undergo Tommy John surgery. All the best luck to him in the long road to recovery!
Thankfully, we do have some more Cool News. Amidst all the dingers and comebacks, Matt Chapman won the annual Heart and Hustle Award for the Oakland A’s. Pretty nifty stuff for our own, personal Superman!
“Well-deserved” is an understatement.
Even though we’ve been left with a little bit of an “ehh” feeling after the start of our series against the Rockies, obviously the week was outstanding. Things that suck: The A’s lost two games in a row. Things that are cool: The Mariners and Astros also did.
While the A’s can’t win the series in Colorado at this point, hopefully by Sunday the team can figure themselves out and come back with a W — before welcoming a struggling Blue Jays team to the Coliseum. They seem to be pretty good at bouncing back this year.
Poll
How old does Matt Chapman look
This poll is closed
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11%
5
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21%
14
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5%
10
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49%
16
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11%
Actually he kind of looks like an infant