Elephant Rumblings: Alex Bregman set to return Tuesday for Houston Astros

Good morning, Athletics Nation!

Do you hear that, friends? It’s the sound of a slow news day in baseball. Remember when these used to happen all the time?

Nobody ultra-famous died, no teams tested positive for coronavirus, no new natural disasters emerged except the ones we’re already dealing with, no new labor disputes arose, and so on. The sun came up, a bunch teams played baseball, you maybe didn’t even go to work/Zoom because it was Labor Day, and then the sun went down and we went to bed. It was glorious.

Of course, things happened, but they were within the range of normal everyday occurrences. The Oakland A’s beat the Houston Astros without needing late-inning heroics, to open their crucial five-game series. There were routine injury updates on Matt Chapman and A.J. Puk, for better or worse. Stephen Piscotty drove in a runner from scoring position. And so on.

Perhaps the most interesting item for A’s fans is that Astros star third baseman Alex Bregman is expected to be activated from the injured list today, after missing 17 games to a strained hammy, reports Jake Kaplan of The Athletic. Houston went 7-10 during that stretch, including being swept in four by the lowly Los Angeles Angels right before coming to Oakland.

The A’s and Astros are playing a doubleheader today, with start times scheduled at 3:10 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. — remember, each contest is only seven innings. It remains to be seen whether Bregman plays both games or just one, but for what it’s worth teams often don’t push players too hard upon their return from a pulled leg muscle. However much he plays, though, the 26-year-old is the reigning runner-up MVP finisher and his presence should be a big boost for the Astros — if you want an analogy, he’s basically their version of Chapman.

It’s a great day for a ball game, relative to the last two scorchers; let’s play two!

A’s Coverage

• Hickey: Time Off Has Worked Wonders for Athletics Olson’s Productivity
• Kawahara: A’s Bob Melvin: Replay review results ‘beyond frustrating’ ($)
• Coffey: To find the roots of A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt, turn to a basketball court in Genoa, Ohio ($$$)
• AN: MLB replay review is going to embarrass the sport in October if it’s not improved
• A’s injury updates: Matt Chapman day-to-day, A.J. Puk shut down again
• Game #38: A’s fire on all cylinders, shut out Astros 6-0 in series opener

MLB News & Interest

• Cooper: Minor League Baseball statement on retirement of President & CEO Pat O’Connor
• Cassavell: Hosmer fractures finger on bunt attempt
• Matheson: The best team in N.Y.? It’s the Blue Jays
• Simon: These postseason droughts might en
• Adler: The next great pitching star is in Miami
• Leitch: Every team’s biggest impending free agent
• Clair: The 10 best shoulder patch logos in baseball
• Today in Baseball History

Yesterday Game Highlights

Monday: Win! Against the Astros! Have a day, Sean Murphy (3 times on base, 3 RBI).

But the top highlight came from the star of the game, starting pitcher Chris Bassitt.

Best of Twitter

Loving the Heim family more and more every day

Truth

Ramon got hit again last night, though this one was definitely not on purpose and he could have gotten out of the way if he’d wanted (and remember Canha stepped into his most recent one ... but still this stat is telling)

Don’t worry, Ramon found a way to fight back (though remember Garneau is one of the good guys in the brawl story)

Tell ‘em, Dallas!

That’s basically Melvin-speak for the f-word

I present to you a thread (click through for the rest)

Profar knocks in Mateo for the walk-off. Oh, what could have been here in Oakland. (I mean, we turned out pretty OK too.)

Thoughts and prayers to San Ramon