Elephant Rumblings: A’s to try Matt Harvey in Triple-A bullpen

A’s Coverage:

• Gallegos: Profar helps A’s keep grip on 2nd AL Wild Card...
• Slusser: A’s edge Royals with big days from Seth Brown, Jurickson Profar... ($)
• Lombardi: ‘We had to win this game today’ - Ahead of a showdown against the Yankees, the shorthanded A’s dig one out... ($$$)
• Adler: Obscure rule nets A’s valuable insurance run...
• Lockard: Versatility, aggressiveness at the plate - What to expect from newest A’s rookie Sheldon Neuse... ($$$)
• Slusser: A’s pointing Matt Harvey toward possible relief role... ($)

Best of AN:

• JToster: Game #134 - Profar Shot Puts A’s Up for Good...
• Hall: A’s score on unusual play against Royals...
• Hall: A’s call up infield prospect Sheldon Neuse...

MLB News:

• Rieber: Mets second baseman Jed Lowrie still hoping to return in 2019...
• Castillo: Dodgers infielder Max Muncy to undergo tests after being hit by pitch on wrist...
• Kelly: These clubs have toughest remaining schedules...

Baseball Interest Stories:

• Stoeten: Teams that trade away Josh Donaldson always end up with regrets... ($$$)
• Rowley: Time Has Come Today...
• Clemens: The Worst Swinging Strikes of the Year...
• Miller: The six must-see MLB games of the next 5,000 years...
• Knight: What you didn’t know about this year’s baseballs — all 1.1 million of them... ($$$)

Today in Baseball History:

• 1976 — The A’s purchase veteran Willie McCovey from the Padres.
• 1999 — In an article in the New York Times, former major league OF Billy Bean reveals his fears as a gay man in the world of major league baseball. Former Dodger Glenn Burke, who died of AIDS in 1995, is the only other ex-player to have acknowledged his homosexuality.

Best of Twitter:

• It turns out, historically, players don’t perform much better with contenders than they do on bad teams...

• Lots of qualifiers here, but still a neat little Mark Canha stat...

• The SamoFro is back...