Elephant Rumblings: A’s win six of seven against Astros, Yankees

A’s Coverage:

• Gallegos: Roark leads A’s to statement sweep of Yankees...
• Slusser: A’s sweep Yankees behind another terrific start by Tanner Roark... ($)
• Slusser: Interesting possibilities for A’s to consider in September... ($)
• Thompson: Marcus Semien is on another level, serving as the understated force in this A’s run... ($$$)
• Gallegos: Petit getting ‘out of all the jams’ for A’s...
• Strauss: A.J. Puk’s captivating A’s debut brings a lot of nerves, thrills and uncertainty... ($$$)
• Shea: For A’s Jurickson Profar, Little League World Series is family affair... ($)
• Jenkins: What’s in a nickname? Baseball has the answer... ($)

Best of AN:

• Urquhart: Game #128 — Yankees Swept Away at the Coliseum...
• Hall: Quick Look — A.J. Puk makes MLB debut...

MLB News:

• Passan: MLB bans playing in Venezuela amid Trump order...
• Rome: Astros lose top reliever Ryan Pressly for 4-6 weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery...
• Topkin: Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe (quadriceps) out for season...
• Fernandez: Luis Castillo’s lawyer demands information, apology as ex-MLBers are reportedly linked to a Dominican crime ring... ($$$)

Baseball Interest Stories:

• Dougherty: MLB players never know what day of the week it is... ($)
• Brennan: Revisiting whether clutch is a skill...
• Dale Murphy: In praise of bench players, the glue of their teams — and more valuable than ever... ($$$)
• Edwards: The Best Bullpens in Baseball...
• Klugh: How to Dance with a Little League Umpire...
• Simon: Which teams are the most improved defensively in baseball? ($$$)

Today in Baseball History:

• 1980 — A’s owner Charlie Finley sells the club for $12.7 million to the Haas family of San Francisco, CA, owners of the Levi Strauss clothing empire, thus keeping the team in Oakland.
• 2017 — Rich Hill of the Dodgers pitches 9 no-hit innings against the Pirates at PNC Park - but has nothing to show for it. Carrying a perfect game through 8 innings, Hill loses that bid when the Pirates’ lead-off batter in the 9th, Jordy Mercer hits a hard smash to third that Logan Forsythe fails to field, being charged with an error. Hill retires the next three batters however, but with the Dodgers having failed to score all day, he is back on the mound for the start of the 10th and Josh Harrison hits a walk-off homer that barely reaches the seats, handing him a 1 - 0 loss instead of a place in history.

Best of Twitter:

• What a homestand so far...

• I think Mark is speaking for all of us here...

• Could Harvey sneak onto the A’s roster in September?