Elephant Rumblings: A’s designate Nick Hundley, option Tanner Anderson, activate Brett Anderson

A’s Coverage:

• Slusser: Justin Verlander stifles A’s again, Astros take series...
• Footer: Bassitt regrets mistake to Altuve that costs A’s...
• Poindexter: A’s analysis — The bats go quiet and the Astros extend their lead in the AL West... ($)
• Tefertiller: Miguel Romero Closes In On Big League Role...
• Slusser: A’s Mark Canha provides strong fill-in work...
• Footer: Since no-no, Fiers has been a force for A’s...

Best of AN:

• CatfishBunter: Game #104 — A’s K their way to series loss in Houston...
• Hall: Exploring Marcus Stroman and Mike Minor as Oakland A’s trade targets...
• Iversen: The A’s can learn a lot from Target Field...

MLB News:

• Morosi: Tigers could look to package two of outfielder Nick Castellanos, righty Shane Greene, lefty Matthew Boyd in trade...
• Rosenthal’s trade deadline notebook: the latest on J.D. Martinez, Kirby Yates, Marcus Stroman, Yasiel Puig, and more... ($)
• Frisaro: Teams showing interest in Marlins righties Sergio Romo and Trevor Richards, lefty Caleb Smith...
• Heyman: Yankees “not very involved” in talks for Rangers lefty Mike Minor...
• Grant: Interest picking up in Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara...
• Rogers: Cubs option shortstop Addison Russell to Triple-A...

Baseball Interest Stories:

• McNear: The San Francisco Giants Should Definitely Be Sellers…or Should They?
• Stark: Behind the scenes in Cooperstown on Induction Weekend... ($)
• Hayes: In a breathtaking ‘Game of the Year,’ the Twins just could not kill the Yankees... ($)
• Edwards: Predicting the 2019 Trade Deadline...
• Laurila: Players’ View — What Is It Like to Get Traded?

Today in Baseball History:

• 1930 — The A’s pull off triple steals twice in one game against the Indians. Al Simmons, Bing Miller, and Dib Williams are the base thieves in the 1st inning, and Mickey Cochrane, Simmons, and Jimmie Foxx steal together in the 4th.
• 2004 — Paul Molitor, a member of the 3000 hit club, and Dennis Eckersley, who appeared in the most games of any Hall of Fame pitcher (1,071 games), are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Long-time Bay Area (A’s and Giants) broadcaster Lon Simmons wins the Ford C. Frick Award and the J.G. Taylor Spink Award is won by the New York Times’ Murray Chass, enabling both to be honored by the Hall for their outstanding reporting of the national pastime.

Best of Twitter:

• Two of Oakland’s top prospects were promoted to Triple-A on Wednesday...

• Even with his down year, you have to appreciate the insane movement Blake Treinen gets on his sinker...

• Will Oakland go bold at the deadline? Or, more importantly — should they?