A Look At April: The First Month Of A’s Baseball

The first half of the season has always seemed to be a tormenting stretch for the Oakland Athletics and their fans. Those who have followed the A’s over the last decade understand that the A’s are normally a second half team.

Apr 28, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics fans cheer Oakland left fielder

(52) after a two-run home run to tie the game against the Baltimore Orioles during the bottom of the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

April has continued to be labeled as “one of those months.” But not this year.

Last year the Athletics finished the month of April with a 10-12 record. Fortunately, the team surged back in the second half to make a playoff appearance. The A’s appearance in the 2012 playoffs was their first playoff appearance since 2006.  In 2011 they finished April 13-14. In 2010 they finished 12-12. In 2009 they finished 8-11. In 2008 they finished 16-11 (their only positive record in April). In 2007 they finished 12-13. Lastly, in 2006, the last time the A’s made the playoffs, the team finished 12-12.

In 2013 the A’s have managed to start the season on a winning note. The teams April record is 16-12, which is good enough for second place in the AL West.

Although the month of April has been an overall good month, the A’s have had their ups and downs, to say the least.

The first half of the month was very good and the Athletics dominated their AL West division opponents. They managed to split the opening season series against the Seattle Mariners, sweep the Houston Astros, sweep the Los Angeles Angels, and then sweep the Astros again. In the mix of these series’, the A’s lost a 3-game series to the Detroit Tigers.

It wasn’t until after the second sweep of the Houston Astros that the Athletics started to struggle. The green-and-gold were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays, dropped 2 of 3 games against the Boston Red Sox, and then lost 3 of 4 games to the Baltimore Orioles.

The Oakland Athletics have had to deal with their fair share of injuries thus far. And in the mix of those injuries no loss has been any bigger than the loss of Yoenis Cespedes. Luckily, the A’s got back Yoenis Cespedes just in time to salvage the final game of the series against the Baltimore Orioles. He hit a game tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in that final game. Cespedes has continued to help the A’s end the month of April with a 3-game winning streak.

In the final game of the month, Cespedes went 2-4 with a double, a triple, and 4 RBI, to help lead the Athletics to a 10-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.