Elephant Rumblings: A’s Take Sole Possession of Second Wild Card Spot, Matt Chapman is Amazing

A’s Coverage:

• NBCSBA: A’s take sole possession of second wild card spot...
• Sullivan: Matt Chapman Is Amazing...
• Hall: Watch Chapman bend time and space to his will...
• Clair: Somehow, some way, the A’s have found their way into the AL Wild Card race...
• Oakland A’s: Moving forward post-Trade Deadline...
• Slusser: A’s Khris Davis is coming up clutch...

MLB News:

• Harvey: Yankees move struggling starter Sonny Gray into bullpen...
• ESPN: Brad Ziegler becomes first Arizona player to use D-backs’ bullpen cart...
• AP: Giants lose Pablo Sandoval for season due to torn right hamstring...
• Laymance: Dodgers set stadium record with 21 R, 7 HRs...

Baseball Interest Stories:

• Anderson: Daniel Robertson isn’t the Rays’ new Ben Zobrist, but he’s a player worth watching...
• Brown: Rick Ankiel ‘toying with’ pitching professionally again...

Today in Baseball History:

2010 - The Royals and Athletics are involved in a strange play. With the Royals’ Mitch Maier on third and Yunieski Betancourt on first base with none out in the 7th, Gregor Blanco lays a bunt down the third base line. C Kurt Suzuki fields it and catches Maier in a rundown between third and home. When P Jerry Blevins runs Maier back to the third sack, Betancourt is already standing there. Blevins tags both runners and umpire Bill Hohn calls Betancourt out for being on an occupied base, while Blanco advances to second. However, the umpires then confer, and crew chief Gary Darling rules Maier out for stepping off the bag after being tagged, thus abandoning his effort, making Betancourt’s presence on the bag legal. A’s manager Bob Geren comes out to argue that both runners should then be out and when he insists too much, he is ejected. In the end, the unusual play doesn’t figure in the final score as the Royals win, 3 - 2.

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