Neither club is playing for much beyond pride and reps down the stretch. Baltimore sits at 66-69 and well outside the race, while the Athletics are 53-82 in their first season calling Sacramento home, and the roster on the field looks nothing like the one that broke camp.
The Athletics have been without Brent Rooker since his season-ending knee surgery, and shortstop Jacob Wilson is now staring down shoulder surgery of his own, which strips out two of the lineup's real bats for the stretch run. Baltimore's issue is different — its bullpen has been gutted by injuries at the back end, which puts more pressure on Baz to go deep than the box score will ever show.
Both sides are essentially auditioning arms and at-bats for 2027 at this point, but Baltimore's the club still occasionally playing meaningful baseball — it took 2 of 3 from the Cardinals before landing in Sacramento, while the Athletics have leaned on their bullpen far more than a team missing this many regulars can really afford.