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The Oakland Telegraph
9 September 2032
Sweep of Astros improbably returns A's to summit of American League West
By Will I. Neverdid, unexpected events correspondent
In a tremendous example of how anything can happen in the sport of baseball, spluttering world champions Oakland have suddenly jumped back to the top of the American League West after yesterday completing an unexpected 3-0 series sweep over divisional title rivals Houston. A's back office staff rushed out to buy lottery tickets in an effort to capitalise on the organisation's apparent recent run of luck. The A's outscored the Astros 14-4 over the three games, which saw a rare and unexpected outbreak of competence from their much-maligned starting rotation.
Karl Dickson pitched 8.1 innings for 1 earned run in game one, and Joe Byrd, temporarily promoted to the rotation in place of injured Antonio Perez, threw 7 innings for 1 earned run in the next. You could have got good odds against a third straight dose of straight pitching in the final game of the series, but Brad Dundee produced the goods, going a full 9 innings and giving up just 2 runs. After missing all last season through injury, Dundee predictably struggled during the first part of the season, but now looks like he might have found his mojo again. He really ought to have looked after the mojo more carefully in the first place.
The win pushes Oakland to 74-60, and a wafer-thin half game lead over Houston. They also have only a narrow 2.5 game lead over third-place Tampa Bay in the wildcard race, so a lot could change yet. GM Paulie Beane said, "It was a great display by the lads against Houston, but if I'm honest it reflects badly on the standard of the American League this year that we're in this position despite our inconsistency all year. Hopefully we can take advantage of that and push on from here, but given how this season has gone I'm frankly not holding my breath."
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