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The Oakland Telegraph
24 August 2027
Pummellings by Toronto leave Oakland with it all to do
By Lou Sing-Ground, bad run correspondent
The 76-41 Toronto Blue Jays have the best record in baseball, and their performances against the Oakland A's this past fortnight have shown why. In the teams' two head-to-head series, the A's have been clipped six games to one, with their only victory coming in the final match, last night's 10-4 win at Rogers Center.
Those two series batterings by the Blue Jays have seen Oakland, who stand at 66-54, lose ground to the Houston Astros in the American League West division. The 73-46 Astros now have a commanding 7.5 game lead. Oakland, however, are still clinging desperately onto the second wildcard spot, and have a 3 game lead over chasing Kansas City. Speaking after yesterday's game, general manager Paulie Beane was not exactly a picture of joy unconfined at the prospect of facing the fifth wildcard lottery draw of his tenure. "Unless Houston hit a bad spell, it will be difficult to catch them now, but we'll keep fighting to the very last game", he said in cliched fashion. Asked about the wildcard, he said, "Obviously I hate the fixture. And only marginally less so when we win the damn game."
Oakland's bats have been a bit quiet of late, notwithstanding being stymied by the Blue Jays. Babe magnet Javier Cruz now has 31 home runs, just 2 short of the single season franchise record with two months still to play. Third baseman Patick Snel was dropped down the lineup by Beane after a slow start to the season but has recovered well and is now batting third. Beane's biggest concern is centre fielder Eddie Holland, who has been demoted from the lead-off spot after a steady but utterly unspectacular season so far. He has a .324 OBP but the 29-year-old's overall offensive production has now fallen in each of the last two years. With two years remaining on a $16m per annum contract, Beane and owner Ban-ki Rupt will be desperately hoping this isn't a steep and terminal decline, and a contract about to go bad.
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