After dropping eight out of their last ten, the Oakland A’s have officially entered panic mode. They now sit 1.5 games back of the second American League wild card spot and now have to battle the scorching hot New York Yankees in a four game home stand. The timing of this series is, to put it lightly, not ideal.
The month of August has not been kind to the A’s. Ramon Laureano‘s 80 game PED suspension on August 6th as well as star pitcher Chris Bassitt‘s gruesome injury courtesy of a 100 mph line drive to the face on August 17th in a 0-9 loss to the White Sox both proved to be crushing blows.
Oakland A’s facing Yankees at worst possible time
This month has certainly shined down more favorably upon the New York Yankees. They have won 11 in a row, 13-1 in their last 14 series, and are currently 19-4 so far this month.
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The Yankees have been firing on all cylinders. Their offense and starting pitching are finally in sync, which does not bode well for the A’s.
Oakland last saw the Yankees back in June in a 1-2 series loss in the Bronx. To make matters worse, this is a very different Yankees team they will be facing tonight.
After making not one, but two major splashes at the trade deadline where they acquired both Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo, other pieces within the organization have started to have major impacts.
Former reliever Nestor Cortes Jr. has become a formidable starter, reigning 2020 home run leader Luke Voit has been on a tear since returning from the IL and Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are both rolling with on base percentage streaks of over 15 games each.
The Oakland A’s need to, at the very least, take three out of four this series. Their division hopes are slowly dying, thus shifting the focus to securing a wild card spot. All things considered, if they lose this series, it could seal the fate of their season.