Elephant Rumblings: End of season nears

MLB news roundup

Morning Athletics fans!

The club is on a bit of a skid right now, having lost three straight games to Chicago’s two teams. Two one-run losses against possibly the worst team ever in the White Sox (currently at 36-115) and the Cubs, who are above the .500 mark but quickly falling out of contention for a Wild Card spot. The A’s stand at an improved 65-86 compared to last year’s disaster and with only 11 games to go the Oakland A’s won’t hit the dreaded 100-loss mark in their final year in the East Bay.

Still, if the club gets hot and goes 8-3 the rest of the way then they’ll also avoid the 90-loss threshold. That would be a huge win for the club heading into the offseason but it’ll be a tall task. Once we finish up this road trip we got three games against the New York Yankees, who are currently tied for the top spot in the American league. That means we’ll be getting a Yankees squad that’s heading to the postseason but still needs to secure that top spot. They’ll be motivated to takes these games at the Coliseum and it’ll be up to the A’s to play spoiler against their longtime foe.

Wrapping up the year we’ll welcome the Texas Rangers for the final series at the Coliseum. The reigning World Series champions will not get a chance to defend their crown as they’ve suffered from the World Series hangover that often follows winners. It’ll be an uphill climb and the team would need some help but it’s still possible to pass them in the standings and take third place in the AL West. A sweep during the final homestand at the Coliseum would go a long way to making that a reality.

And then we’ll wrap the season up with a trip up North to Seattle to take on the rival Mariners. Seattle is clinging to the small chance at the playoffs right now, sitting just two games back of the final Wild Card spot in the AL. It’s impressive considering they fired their manager less than a month ago. They were 7.5 games out of the playoffs when they made the change and they’ve seemed to have found a spark, closing the gap while going 13-9 and currently on a 3-game winning streak. If that final series of the season means something for the Mariners then even better. It’s always fun to play spoiler, and that’s all we’ll have before the long winter begins.

Have an excellent Tuesday everyone!

A’s Coverage:

• Cubs take game one with commanding 9-2 win
• Rooker’s 38th home run has A’s pushing for Silver Slugger nod
• Mickey Morabito, longest-tenured A’s employee, opens up on his ‘heck of a ride’

MLB News & Interest:

• Mike Trout speaks on recovery, open to moving to corner OF or DH
• Shohei Otani could pitch in postseason, Roberts says
• Phillies moving Taijuan Walker back to starting rotation
• Pirates to promote #6 prospect Nick Yorke to major leagues
• Dodgers place Austin Barnes on IL with fractured toe
• Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras done for year with broken middle finger
• Rockies activate starter Antonio Senzatela off IL for season debut
• Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos first righty batter to homer into McCovey Cove
• MRI clean, but Lindor out of lineup a day after departing early
• MLBPA sues DraftKings & FanDuel
• Red Sox Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Castiglione to retire following season
• Here are 5 must-visit ballparks for Minor League playoff games
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

At least Midland is heading to the postseason:

Cross Wrigley off the list of places to homer. Three more to go:

Maybe a promotion to the A’s for the final two weeks?