[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
8 October 2025
Oakland win 15-inning wildcard thriller
By Neil Biter, tense playoff games correspondent

As GM Paulie Beane sat down in front of the waiting reporters at the post-match press conference, he eyed up the small glass of colourless liquid that had been placed on the table in front of him. He put his nose to the rim of the glass and took a deep sniff, then let out a quiet breath. "Vodka tonight, boys. A double", he said, and in one swift motion grabbed the glass, cocked back his head, and downed it in one. "My nerves are too shredded for a mere whisky." Beane didn't even see the game. He never watches the games. He doesn't go to the players' gym and work out, that's far too much like hard work. He sits in his office deep in the bowels of the stadium playing OOTP and smoking cigars.

Everyone else gathered in the Coliseum last night witnessed an absolute classic. Fully justifying his general manager's faith in him, superstar Jose Fernandez was in peerless form. As the Oakland lineup put 3 runs on the board early to take command of the game, Fernandez was literally unhittable and took a no-hitter into the 7th inning. No-one thought much of it when Tampa finally got a hit and a run in the 7th, but the home fans' tension started to rise when they added another in the 8th after an error by third baseman Patrick Snel, making it 3-2 A's.

Field manager Phil D'Manager either had a brain freeze or decided to sabotage his forthcoming contract extension negotiations with Beane after the season, by throwing in rookie reliever Roy Ellis for the ninth inning, rather than established closer Eric Wright. Some spectators in the crowd thought they heard from the general direction of the stadium offices the sound of furniture and IT equipment being destroyed as Ellis gave up the tying run, and the game was headed for extra innings.

Five incredibly tense, or incredibly boring if you don't support either team, scoreless innings followed. Then, in the 15th, Oakland's season looked over when reliever Melvi Salazar gave up an RBI single. But the drama wasn't done on this remarkable night. Martin Wilson's sacrifice fly tied it up, and then club stalwart Franklin Barreto singled home the winning run to complete an incredible 5-4 win.

Beane said, "It would be an understatement to say I disagreed with some of D'Manager's decisions tonight, but we won the game. Phil and I have a terrific working relationship with no cracks whatsoever, no sirree. None at all. None. Honest. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and order some new tables, chairs and computers for my office."