Elephant Rumblings: A’s warming up right before break

Welcome to Thursday, everyone!

The A’s have been playing good ball recently with a 5-3 record over the past week-plus, and today go for the sweep of the Detroit Tigers. And after winning the previous series against the White Sox, the A’s have won back-to-back series for the just the second time all season. And they still have a chance at a sweep this morning.

It hasn’t been just one thing that the team is starting to do right. It’s been a mix of better offense on some days and pitching the others. They’ve scored 40 runs over the time frame, averaging out to five runs per game. And that’s with a shutout during this stretch. It’s been a team effort as the club has gotten different contributions from players up and down the lineup. It hasn’t been the same guy every evening. That being said, Tony Kemp is playing great in what might be his final month with the team. He’s a free agent this off-season and the deadline is just weeks away. Enjoy Kemp while he’s here.

And the pitching has been solid enough. The Yankees touched up the guys pretty tough in two of three games while the pitching bent but didn’t break against Chicago. And now they’ve stepped it up even more against Detroit as Sears and Waldichuk clamped down the Tigers’ lineup. Lefty Hogan Harris will try to make it three straight quality starts tomorrow.

This isn’t to say the team is a sudden world beater. The squad has been playing a couple below-average teams in the White Sox and Tigers, but a win is a win. The losing has to take a toll on the players and a lot of these guys are young. Finishing off the sweep today before the final series of the first half would feel great.

A’s Coverage:

• Toster: A’s crush Tigers in 12-3 blowout
• Snowden: A’s Trade Deadline guide
• Langeliers: A’s have been building towards recent success
• Rodriguez: Rosenthal reveals MLB owners’ opinion on A’s relocation
• Lockard: Draft preview: Will A’s stick with bats or go with a pitcher?
• Losada: Manny Pina makes A’s debut after Perez injury

MLB News & Interest:

• McDonald: Mike Trout undergoes hamate surgery, out 4-8 weeks
• MLB: Does Trout injury make an Ohtani trade more likely?
• ESPN: Astros’ Altuve sits again with oblique injury, in no rush to return
• AP: Orioles promote outfield prospect Colton Cowser to big leagues
• Simon: Path to .400 for Luis Arraez
• Snyder: Yankees reliever Jimmy Cordero suspended rest of year due to domestic violence
• Calis, Mayo, and Jackson: Who will go #1 in the MLB Draft? Here are the odds
• Rymer: 10 Biggest Storylines of the MLB Draft
• AP: Cameraman injured by errant throw from Gunnar Henderson
• Adams: Red Sox plan to make Yu Chang as primary shortstop upon return
• McDonald: Mariners select Tommy Milone
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

No bueno:

At least he did this before the injury:

Looks like a good field:

ICYMI: