Part II of the 2020 Bay Bridge Series, with the A’s entering with a magic number of 2 vs. the Mariners to clinch a playoff spot, and 4 vs. the Astros for the division. The Mariners are “home” in San Diego for three while the Astros host Arizona.
Tonight: Logan Webb vs. Chris Bassitt
Saturday at 1:10: Kevin Gausman vs. Luzardo
Sunday at 1:10: Tyler Anderson vs. Minor (ESPN except in the Bay Area)
Lamb at it again.
So Bassitt for game 1 starter?
yes
It does look like Bassitt in Game 1, Luzardo in Game 2 and whomever Bob chooses to pitch vs. the Giants on Sunday in Game 3, all on 4 days rest, because they will have 5 days after this current turn. The only pitcher who is disqualified is (of course) Fiers.
chris townsend has a sad
How about piggybacking Montoas and Luzardo?
I think I prefer the SuperManaea that was throwing 94-95 consistently in the Padres game over Montas. Otherwise, it seems like a coin flip and maybe it comes down to the opposing team’s splits.
Hound Sound on the Mound.
Mr. Webb was a ticking time bomb there.
NL West helping out all over the place tonight.
Lets work it out this week, yeah?
no, vince, its not going to be interesting. the AL playoff picture is pretty much set
Astros have lost and Mariners are down 5-0. If the Mariners lose before the A’s game is over that actually clinches a playoff spot for the A’s even though the A’s magic number over the Mariners would be 1 and over the Astros 3. The reason is that there’s a 3-game HOU @ SEA series on Monday-Wednesday, and either the M’s would have to lose 1 or the Astros would have to lose 3. Obviously if the A’s can hold a 6-0 lead that would take care of it as well.
A’s finish before the Mariners, and have clinched already (for the same reason, Astros and Mariners can’t both finish with >= 32 wins now) but none of our announcers or beat writers understands that.
And also if the Astros-Mariners series were completely COVIDed out (or even one game therein), the Mariners could not finish with a better winning percentage than the A’s.
How can that be a ball if ken said “the pitch to belt high”
Chris Bassitt has the rare abliity to look 19 at 640 and 38 at 839
bob is really stretching bassitt out here
The Giants wanted to pound, but Hound never unwound.
I don’t think Kemp had to bare hand it given that the catcher was running but whatever.
he is not good at defense
After Profar he feels like MaEl.
This.
I would feel better if they scored more and Canha and olson stopped striking out
I agree with Ed. Would love like 3 more runs.
Just realized this us a preview of the Wendelken experience. Hard pass.
Its not my money of course. But hendriks is going to be 32, he is going to be good at least next year. He is going to want years, I assume. Give him 3 plus an option on the 4th
Perfect world Id want 2+option, but would do 3. And plan that it is possible year 3 could be a sunk cost.
I don’t think 2+ gets him. I would prefer 2 as well, but I think its necessary to go big for 2021.
He’d be in line for like a 15 million/year for 3 years contract in normal times. Even with depressed revenues, I think most teams would still QO him but we almost certainly won’t.
He can probably still reach 8 figures over 3 years on the open market without the QO attached which will almost assuredly put him out of the A’s range unless we give up on Marcus.
that was a 26 pitch inning with a 6-0 lead in the 8th inning against, recently good, but not great hitters.
Imagine a one run game in new york with LeMahieu/judge/stanton/sanchez/voigt
@Ed it would only be a 1 run game for like 2 batters, so hey..
Insightful commentary tonight.
“Its gonna be tough to win the WS this year.”
Playoffs? You kidding me??
2
Babe, Ruth! Indeed
TJS for Verlander
He can’t hurt us anymore.
olson has to something, yeah?
Donnie Tootblans.
a double play is in order, jesus
If this was a playoff game in the 3 game series, I think I would take out Luzardo right about now at 5 innings complete and 80+ pitches. I like Ed’s idea of bridging the 2 innings to Soria/Diekman with Montas.
Ho hum, another dominant inning from Diekman.
I’ll believe it when I see it
He seems to be thriving off of my disbelief in him so I’m happy to continue.
I want to see davis for grossman
I always believed in Jake Lamb personally. I’m in on all the Jakes.
Mabry is really taking to this team
heh
The 2 Jakes.
Oh come the fk on Robbie, that TOOTBLAN somehow managed to be worse than the two fielding misplays.
That may have been the most little league play Ive seen this year.
Wait, robbie hit second base before the ball was dropped could the force is off?
This has been quite the inning for comical misplays.
LOLgnats
And that team is basically tied for a playoff spot.
It’s confusing. They don’t seem to have a good offense or good starters or a good bullpen, and the defense is worst of all.
It’s just a clear example of how insulting a 16 team playoff field is if these Giants are on the verge of getting in.
(and if they do get in, I have this nagging feeling that they’ll definitely go farther than us)
TORTURE
Dubon seems to be a very bad center fielder.
You really need dubon’s bat in the lineup. You live with his defense
The A’s spanish language guys just had a laughing fit at the defense.
A good friend of mine used to say, ‘This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball.
I scared Lil Miss Aces twice this inning having a laughing fit.
Give Lou the ninth, or does Hendriks need work?
Is KD ever going to get another at bat?
@lc Id seriously consider starting him daily starting tomorrow. See if there is any chance you can get him going.
Ow.
This series is a boring early-round tennis match.
Luzardo invented a new pitch today.
An American starting in central midfield for Juventus, right behind Cristiano Ronaldo. 2020 is full of surprises.
Minor starting today. Then
That would mean Luzardo wouldn’t get in another start and still be available for Game 1 of the playoffs.
So they either have to skip Luzardo (and Bassitt?) entirely, or they plan on starting Montas in Game 1.
I wouldn’t be surprised if those plans change.
The way the schedule shakes out, there is a decent argument for figuring out a way to use all five starters in the first round in some capacity. With the DS not starting until 9/5, everyone will be available anyway, and you don’t want anyone to go 10 days without pitching. You could plan to use Luzardo and Bassitt in long relief roles and still start them in games 1 and 2 of the next series.
Melvin is pretty superstitious. He could change if they Actually clinch
Fine with Bumgarner throwing a shutout today.
OK
OK
YOUR ASS IS FIRED
It’s a pretty good time for that, yeah? I don’t know who would pick him up right now
I’d see it the other way. If somebody thinks Mengden is worth a look in spring training, grab him. If there’s some better use for that roster spot over the winter, there’s no particular loss in cutting him loose in December. Anyway, under the circumstances I infer that the A’s don’t ever want to see him again.
I think his value is limited. I am wishcasting this portends the “go for it” winter.
I think you’re reading too much into it. He’s out of options, about to be arb eligible, and Minor has that 6th starter spot now. They could have sent down Weems, but Mengden had reached the point of being expendable
I’m certainly reading between the lines and maybe within the spaces between some of the letters too, but I’m not sure at all that’s “too much”.
The players live everyday life like all of us, no bubble, hundreds of chances to catch a virus and never know where it came from.
Johnny Cueto is a left handed white guy?
was it always anderson? I thought it was cueto
andeux got that updated for me this morning.
Minor using the whole park today.
I didn’t mean the LF bleachers.
Hey, good for Springer homering twice in his last home game in Houston.
That stolen base stole a strike
Chances of a clinch today spiraled down a lot in the last 2 minutes.
way to blister the ball matt
“Exit velocity 44.2 mph”.
Man, if Anderson throws a one-hitter…
e-kapler
Alas
You all enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Chiefs/Chargers game is looking pretty compelling right now.
no hitter?
back from the hardware store, what I mess?
A’s pitchers working on things.
15 gallons in the fermentors, and these A’s will have me needing every drop.
they are not hitting well. i dont care about theses pitchers other than wendelken
Sounds like enough for a good deep October run.
Especially since it won’t be ready to drink for 3-4 weeks.
Might get outscored in the weekend series.
14-14 and only a slip saved it
I noticed in the “if the playoffs ended today” section that the AL playoffs have 3 series were teams play division rivals and the 4th series in Yankees/Twins.
I think its going to be hard to break that cycle. Maybe if cleveland sweeps hte whit sox and the twins sweep the tigers
The top three seeds (TB, Chicago, Oakland) are within 1 1/2 games, and any change in their positions would break up at least two of those matchups.
I don’t think forging names and promising settlements that aren’t coming is corruption. I don’t know what this is, but its hilarious.
Who even benefits from that?
that is what I can’t figure out from the available information. I can’t imagine the forger is a person who discriminated, I can’t see them being in charge of settling suits.
Were the complainants not represented?
I am starting to think (hope) that there can’t be a new justice before the election because that is the only thing that will absolutely motivate the right to get out to the polls.
If a replacement for RBG is delivered, the motivation to vote for a guy who is distasteful to the christian right is not as high
I’m guessing at this moment that Moscow Mitch is going to do it between the election and Jan 20.
That’s a risky way to go. If they get blown out in the election, he still might be able to force it through, but it will look so illegitimate as to justify whatever the Democrats want to do in response next year. Who knows, a few of the lame ducks or the guys up in 2022 might even have second thoughts. I think he will try to rip the bandaid off in October, hope to save Collins’ seat by letting her vote no, and then regroup for 2022 with a Court full of hacks he can use to block Biden’s agenda. (Hell, maybe he thinks the hacks can even pull a Bush v. Gore that Roberts’ squeamishness would otherwise prevent.)
Also, I don’t think Trump is distasteful to the Christian right in the slightest. They are crazy for him because he wants to hurt all the same people they do.
With grassley and romney on board, its a moot hope.
It’s happening. Probably during the world series.
Trump is straight up saying they need to confirm her before the election because he plans to challenge the results. Love our democracy.
Pence too. Funny how they didn’t have those concerns about an 8-member court in 2016.
all i know is this thread title needs less babe and more chief justice.
I mean….come on, man.
you see that thing in the atlantic?
Yep. Buckle up.
It takes way more to terrify me these days than it used to. But that Atlantic article managed it. And they didn’t even talk about what the militias will be up to on election day and after.
when you think about the ship we’re on and look at all the icebergs on the horizon, it seems like we’d still have a 50/50 chance of hitting at least one…
with an administration trying to steer away from them.
Question now might be whether Schumer has the procedural means to block hearings from happening while the Republican members (and maybe the nominee) are quarantined. Maybe there’s enough delay there to prevent it getting to the floor pre-election.
Mariners just scored in b7 to take a 1-0 lead. 2nd 3rd no out strikeout was more familiar, though
followed by a one out strike out
Followed by a 3 run home run by evan white. he had looked bad getting to 2 strikes
Starting to look clinchy.
and even clinchier
woooooo spray that champagne
Fortuitous to be an off-day since MLB nixed boozy clubhouse celebrations.
you know they are in LA getting loaded
Shit…I need to figure out how to geotrack folks. Where do they stay against Los Doyers?
Knowing the typical MLB standard I would guess this one (but I don’t know that for a fact).
On the radio yesterday (yes, we listened to that awful game while driving) they said they were essentially going into the bubble now, starting in LA. As they have clinched being in the playoffs – now the AL West – they will be staying at a team hotel when they return to Oakland. I’m pretty sure most visiting teams stay in SF when they come to play the A’s, but would the team do that? Otherwise you’re kind of looking at the Marriott in downtown Oakland or the Claremont, which seems more likely.
Not the Claremont please.
I was expecting a union-busting link.
I think most teams visiting Oakland stay at the Parc 55 in San Francisco. MLB wouldn’t want both teams at the same hotel, so some place like the Ritz-Carlton over there sounds about right. I heard that too because they talked about it early in the game before it was a blowout; the A’s are “in the bubble” starting with the flight to LA this afternoon.
yesterday they were reminiscing about seeing tracy morgan outside the team hotel and I think they namechecked the hilton, but not the beverley hills one.
I was very skeptical about this season working out, but the A’s have been a clear bright spot in this godforsaken year.
I don’t know how well they’ll do in the playoffs, but I think I’ll try to maintain the same attitude I had during the season: not expecting much but any additional game will be a blessing.
the clinchest
You haven’t won shit yet, fuckheads.
(I’m taking a different approach this year, why not)
13 to go starting in a week or so. Though based on the last 2 years let’s get to 1 first…
So if it were to end now, we’d have the *’s, right? And it would be a 3-game series, all at the Coli? I remember hearing at one point that the home team only had to win one, the visitor 2, but that’s off the table now, eh?
Yes, currently the *’s in oakland, best of three.
I guess I now prefer that we stay in this spot and play the *. Cleveland has to be better than them. I don’t think we’re catching the Rays.
This week will not be interesting. 3 with the dodgers with nothing on the line
The only interesting thing will be seeing things like KD getting ABs.
Can’t open up the whole playbook to the LAs in preseason. Save it for Arlington.
4th preseason game-only scrubs play and we only throw fastballs…
We’re only one behind Tampa in the loss column.
If we sweep the Dodgers I’ll revisit.
A’s division finishes this century:
1st – 7 times
2nd – 7
3rd – 3
4th – 1
5th – 3
And probably 5th place in gross payroll in all 21 seasons.
For 13/21 seasons, 4th place was the bottom.
For 13/21 seasons, 4th place in payroll was 20 feet of shit and then 5th place us.
I found estimate payroll and attendance numbers on bbref.
A’s payroll rank in AL west this century (2020 not included)
1st — 0 times
2nd — 0 times
3rd — 3 times (outspent Texas in 2004, 2007, 2010)
4th — 12 times (outspent Houston in 2013, 2014)
5th — 5 times
A’s attendance rank in AL west this century (2020 not included)
1st — 0 times
2nd — 0 times
3rd — 3 times (outdrew Anaheim in 2001, Texas in 2003, and both Seattle and Houston in 2013)
4th — 12 times (outdrew Houston in 2014)
5th — 5 times
you have the playoffs.
i have the finCEN leak (and accompanying podcast).
The Ted Lasso show is pretty cute. Silly premise that I didn’t think would work beyond a 30 second network promo, but it wins you over.
I’m just now watching season 1 and it is an absolute delight. Can’t wait for season 2!
Treinen’s numbers with the Dodgers are surprising. His strikeouts are way down but he has stopped walking people, is getting a ton of groundballs, and hasn’t given up a homer.
Heh.
Sabermetrics finally has its first patent troll.
This is not even remotely patent trolling.
Cool defense
Several officials said that Trump is not a disciplined enough thinker to grasp the full dimensions of the white nationalist agenda, let alone embrace it. Others pointed out that they have observed him making far more offensive comments about women, insisting that his scorn is all-encompassing and therefore shouldn’t be construed as racist.
“This is a guy who abuses people in his cabinet, abuses four-star generals, abuses people who gave their life for this country, abuses civil servants,” the first former senior White House official said. “It’s not like he doesn’t abuse people that are White as well.”
Nearly all said that Trump places far greater value on others’ wealth, fame or loyalty to him than he does on race or ethnicity. In so doing, many raised a version of the “some of my best friends are Black” defense on behalf of the president.
Racist is as racist does, man. Defend Confederate statues and place names, roll back voting rights, bask in the adoration from Qanon types…those aren’t all just unrelated coincidences. Not to mention his decades-long history of race baiting (Central Park Five, birtherism). Whether his bigotry is heartfelt or tactical is irrelevant.