By:
Janie McCauley
10/09/12 10:58 PM
These A’s never count themselves out — down and doubted is their dogma.
Brett Anderson outdueled fellow postseason first-timer Anibal Sanchez and the upstart A’s were stellar on defense all over the diamond, avoiding another playoff sweep by Detroit by beating the Tigers 2-0 Tuesday in their AL Division Series at the Oakland Coliseum.
The A’s cut their deficit in the best-of-five matchup to 2-1.
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By:
Janie McCauley
10/08/12 6:36 PM
Ideally, Jim Leyland would have everybody hug it out and play ball.
Just as Detroit’s Justin Verlander and Coco Crisp of Oakland did on the field for Monday’s workout day ahead of their teams’ Game 3 in the AL division series Tuesday. The Tigers lead 2-0 and are one win from advancing to a second straight AL championship series.
Leyland insists reliever Al Alburquerque meant no ill will toward the A’s when he fielded Yoenis Cespedes’ ninth-inning comebacker and quickly kissed the ball before throwing to first. Yet the manager disagreed with the display.
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By:
Noah Trister
10/06/12 6:45 PM
Justin Verlander threw a fastball that caught a bit too much of the plate, allowing Oakland's Coco Crisp to lead off the game with a stunning home run.For the first few innings, Verlander labored, his pitch count rising while his control deserted him. But the Athletics could manage only that one run, missing their best chance of the night to break through against Detroit's hard-throwing ace.
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By:
The Sports Xchange
10/04/12 7:58 PM
No one saw this coming but the A’s themselves.
On Wednesday, Oakland became the first team to come from five or more games back to win a division or a pennant with fewer than 10 games to play, topping the Rangers 12-5 to complete a three-game sweep and take the AL West crown.
The A’s never held sole possession of first place this season until they recorded the final out of game No. 162.
“If there’s ever a good day to do that, it’s today,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said Wednesday.
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It only took the A’s 162 games to grab sole possession of first place in the AL West.
The A’s completed one of the most incredible turnarounds in the history of Major League Baseball when they nabbed the division crown from the Texas Rangers earlier this week.
In doing so, the A’s became only the third division winner since the advent of the World Series 109 years ago to spend just a single day in first place.
The New York Giants were the first team to achieve the feat in 1951 and the Minnesota Twins joined them in 2006.
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By:
Janie McCauley
10/03/12 6:11 PM
The A’s captured the AL West with another improbable rally in a season full of them, coming back from four runs down and a 13-game division deficit to stun the two-time defending league champion Texas Rangers 12-5 on Wednesday.
Josh Hamilton dropped a fly ball in center field for a two-run error that put the A’s (94-68) ahead 7-5 in a six-run fourth inning.
While Hamilton’s Rangers (93-69) are headed to the new one-game, wild-card playoff, the A’s get some time off before opening the division series in their first postseason appearance since 2006.
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By:
Josh Dubow
10/02/12 10:20 PM
Travis Blackley allowed one run over six innings in a strong bounce-back performance that helped the A’s move into a first-place tie in the AL West with Texas and set up a one-game showdown for the division title with a 3-1 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday night.
A night after holding a raucous celebration after clinching their first playoff berth since 2006, the A’s erased the last piece of what had been a 13-game deficit in the division race on June 30 to take a share of first place for the first time since March 29.
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By:
Janie McCauley
10/02/12 12:09 AM
Hat on backward and goggles covering his eyes, Yoenis Cespedes started dancing in the middle of the clubhouse as the bubbly streamed every which way.
Quickly, his Oakland teammates joined in the fun — and the Cuban rookie doused anybody he could get.He might have soaked Coco Crisp the best with a double pour over the head.
Crisp's latest big hit helped put the Athletics in the playoffs for the first time in six years, and they remained in contention for a division crown by beating the first-place Texas Rangers 4-3 on Monday night.
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Another dramatic win in hand, the A’s gathered around the big screen clubhouse TV and began feasting on Mexican food while watching the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers play the second game of their Texas doubleheader.
The upstart A’s are still chasing an AL West title with three games to go. And that’s about as ideal a scenario as anyone around here could have envisioned in a season full of injuries, sweeping changes and even a drug suspension for key starting pitcher Bartolo Colon.
“Oh, we’re pumped,” third baseman Josh Donaldson said.
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By:
SportsDirect
09/26/12 11:43 PM
Derek Norris drove in three runs and Stephen Drew had four hits and two RBIs as the A’s pulled within three games of the Texas Rangers in the American League West with a 9-3 rout on Wednesday at the Ballpark in Arlington.
Norris’ RBI triple with two outs in the first finished the night for Rangers starter Martin Perez (1-3) and capped a five-run inning for the A’s, who remain two games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for the AL’s second wild card. The Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in walk-off fashion.
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/archive/17886/17886?page=8&quicktabs_6=1&quicktabs_1=0
