A's sweep 2 straight from Mariners in Seattle
The Athletics won consecutive games in Seattle to push their record to 56-86, but a 17-game deficit and an elimination number of 4 still define where the season stands.
Gelof, Muncy power a two-game sweep in Seattle
The Athletics won back-to-back games in Seattle, taking Thursday's opener 7-4 on September 3 and following it with a 7-6 win on September 4 to finish the two-game set. The pair of wins moved Oakland to 56-86 and made it 3-2 in the last 5 games after dropping the first two of a series against Texas.
Mariners7-4Mariners7-6The September 4 finale carried the offense. Zack Gelof went 2-for-5 with a triple, a home run and 2 RBI, Jeff McNeil was 2-for-5 with a homer and 2 RBI, Alika Williams added a home run, an RBI and a stolen base on a 1-for-3 night, and Max Muncy went 3-for-4 with a homer and an RBI.
17 back in the West, elimination number down to 4
None of it moves the club in the AL West. The Athletics sit last at 56-86, 17.0 games behind the division-leading Astros, and their elimination number is down to 4 — the fewest combination of A's losses and Astros wins left before the division is officially out of reach.
The only team behind them is the Angels, at 53-88 and 19.5 back with an elimination number of 2. The Rangers (70-72) and Mariners (66-76) still have something to play for; the Athletics, at 3-2 over their last 5, are playing out a schedule that has already been decided.
Upcoming
The Athletics are in Seattle tonight, with Jeffrey Springs (3-13, 6.37 ERA) on the mound against George Kirby (9-10, 4.19 ERA). Springs was tagged for 7 earned runs over 4.2 innings in a loss to Baltimore on August 30, while Kirby was around the plate but got a no-decision against Boston on August 31, allowing 5 earned runs over 5 innings. Tommy White, day-to-day with a back injury, has made enough progress that he could be available off the bench tonight, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com.
Seattle is favored, and the market's read on tonight is low-scoring — consistent with two starters who have both struggled to miss bats and limit runs lately, but who also pitch to lineups on the wrong side of .500 in September. For the total to play under, Springs needs to hold a Mariners club that just took 2 straight, and the Athletics need more from the bats that carried Thursday's win than a repeat off Kirby.