After losing a four-game set against the Chicago White Sox, A’s fans had not only hit the panic button, they destroyed it. However, a 2-1 series victory over Wild Card contenders like Seattle does have Oakland fans smiling in relief. Did A’s fans hit that panic button a little too early? Now this series does not mean the A’s are out of the woods just yet. Oakland is only 1 1/2 games up on the Mariners and hold a 1/2 game lead over the Kansas City Royals for home-field advantage in the one-game Wild Card. However, with such a big series against a hot team, this serves as a confidence booster for Oakland entering the final four series of the regular season.
What Oakland boast right now is a fairly easy schedule going forward, with back-to-back three-game series with last place teams in Texas and Philadelphia, respectively. These should be easy victories for the club, but games that they cannot take lightly. For example, the Houston Astros. These are actually six important games that the team needs to take advantage of if they want to keep their lead in the AL Wild Card. After those games, they play host to the hottest team in baseball right now, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It is now impossible for the A’s to leapfrog the Angels and take the AL West division crown, but it is always nice to take some games from your division rival. Finally, Oakland will travel to Arlington to face the Texas Rangers in a four-game set.
What the Athletics need right now is consistency. Winning a game against the White Sox 11-2 then losing the next two games with a combined run total of an imposing one, that is the exact opposite of consistency. What Oakland needs to do is take all of the good that came out of the Sunday shutout of the Mariners and take that momentum into the next 13 games. The player who really needs to ride the momentum is Brandon Moss who finally homered for the first time in 39 games. The A’s also hope to return one of their big hitters in Stephen Vogt just in time for these last several games. Now A’s fans, sit back, relax, and get ready for the most exciting time in baseball -- the homestretch.