The Oakland A’s (54-41) are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now, while riding a five-game winning streak and winning 18 out of their last 23 overall games. However, they have 10 games on deck against a trio of division leaders including the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, and Milwaukee Brewers.
With 10 of their next 15 games against playoff-bound teams, the A’s will truly know where they stack up against the elite squads in baseball.
The A’s lost to the Yankees in the Wild Card last year. This season, they’re in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, but only 4.5 games behind the first-place Astros in the AL West. With an upcoming series against the Astros in Houston next week, the A’s have a chance to pick up ground on their AL West rival.
AL WILD CARD
Tampa Bay Rays 56-41
Cleveland Indians 53-40
Oakland A’s 54-41
Boston Red Sox 51-44
The A’s are in the middle of an 18-5 stretch dating back to a couple of weeks before the All-Star Break.
The A’s are a strong road team (24-21) but they’re also one of four teams with 30 wins at home in the American League this season.
Green and Gold in the Rear View Mirror
With Houston struggling during a rash of injuries to key players like George Springer, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa, the A’s took advantage of a limp Astros squad. The A’s went on a heater with 18 victories in their last 23 games.
The Astros (59-37) jumped out to a smoking hot start but the A’s have closed the gap. The A’s are 4.5 games behind and only trail by four in the loss column.
3B Matt Chapman busted out of a mini-slump with his 22nd home run of the season. He drove in 59 runs and he’s slashing at .278/.360/.554.
CF Ramon Laureano is making waves with 18 homers and 51 RBI. Shortstop Marcus Semein leads the team in hitting and he’s smacked 14 homers with 28 RBI.
The A’s have been playing well with Khris Davis having an off year. Davis is way off last year’s home run pace when he crushed 48. He hit 40-plus in the last three seasons in Oakland. However, he only hit 16 home runs this year.
The A’s do not have any 10-game winners… yet. They have three 9-game winners with Brett Anderson (9-5), Mike Fiers (9-3), and Frankie Montas (9-2). Montas is dunzo for the season after the MLB suspended him for 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance. The A’s will miss Montas, who had a 2.70 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP before his PED suspension.
Worthy Long Shot Odds for the A’s
According to the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, the Oakland A’s moved from 50/1 odds to 40/1 odds to win the 2019 World Series.
The Astros (59-37) were the World Series favorites for most of the first half of the season contending with the LA Dodgers. During their recent slide, the Astros slipped to 9/2 odds to win the championship.
Cody Bellinger and the LA Dodgers (63-34) are the team to beat right now at 3/1 odds to win the 2019 World Series. The NY Yankees (60-33) are 7/2 odds to win the title.
