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Why the Oakland Athletics Remain Red Hot

The Oakland Athletics are red hot! They had won nine straight games after sweeping the defending American League Champion Houston Astros this weekend. The streak ended on Monday night in Anaheim, but at 12-5 they are the hottest team in baseball. This is especially huge as the 60-game season is nearly a third of the way through.

How have the A’s been able to keep winning? Their recipe has been a mixture of team factors, from little contributions 1-9 in the lineup to all-around strong pitching.

Only three of the nine A’s wins were decided by more than two runs. The first six wins were against the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners, two teams the A’s should be beating. The real test would come this weekend against the Astros.  

The A’s faced their toughest starting pitching matchup in Zack Greinke on Friday night against whom they were unable to scratch across any runs. A’s starter Chris Bassitt, however, kept a strong Astros lineup in check, giving up just one run on three hits through seven innings. The A’s were able to provide just enough offense on a Robbie Grossman home run in the seventh off reliever Josh James to tie the game up at 1-1 and send it to extras.

Late in the game is where the A’s have found their competitive edge. Their bullpen has been impeccable, posting an impressive 1.93 bullpen ERA. The bullpen came through once again in extras getting the A’s out of a pair of Astros threats with runners on third base. This included a game saving play by Gold Glove winning third baseman Matt Chapman to rob Jose Altuve of a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 10th.

The Astros would eventually take a lead in the top of the 13th, but their young, inexperienced bullpen was unable to close the door on an always unpredictable A’s lineup. With two outs the Astros intentionally walked Grossman to face eighth place hitter Austin Allen. Allen made them pay with two strikes on him by lining a base hit to left center field to tie the game at 2-2. Two batters later leadoff man Marcus Semien who had been off to a slow start won the game on a walk off RBI single. The undervalued players at the bottom of the A’s batting order came through in a big way by getting on base and delivering game changing hits.

Saturday’s game once again was a quiet day for the A’s bats. However, the other team factor, their strong starting pitching complemented by their formidable bullpen, was enough for the team to emerge victorious 3-1.

Sunday was the icing on the cake. The A’s brought attention to the baseball world by putting all those winning factors on display to finish off a sweep of the Astros. Six of the A’s nine hitters got on base paving the way for power bats Matt Olson and Matt Chapman to bash away. The A’s finished the sweep on Sunday with a 7-2 victory. This victory was also thanks to a strong outing from starter Jesus Luzardo and another nearly flawless bullpen performance.

Things seem to be working out perfectly for the Oakland A’s except for one thing: A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano charged at the Astros dugout after being hit by pitches twice on Sunday, and three times this weekend. Laureano was ejected along with teammate Allen who had also charged over. After a thorough investigation by the commissioner’s office Laureano was suspended for  six games according to ESPN. Looking at the replay it became evident that Laureano was instigated by the words of someone in the Astros dugout. 

Surprisingly, that someone was not a player. It was Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron who received a lengthy 20 game suspension. Laureano told Jeff Passan of ESPN that Cintron “said in Spanish something you don’t say about my mother.” It was also clear in the video that Cintron kept beckoning Laureano to come towards the dugout. One would think coaches would know to set a better example than that. 

Thankfully for the A’s, Laureano’s absence will not be as long as anticipated considering the unpredictability of how the MLB has recently handled players’ conduct.  Despite Laureano’s absence, if the A’s can continue to have different guys step up on different days like they did during the streak, they should remain in championship shape.

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