On 21st April, Wednesday, Oakland Athletics extended their streak to 11 consecutive wins with a 13-12 victory against the Minnesota Twins. The match was wild and ugly, to say the least, but the A’s maintain their streak.
Can Oakland Athletics Be Stopped?
In 1983, Doug Rader, the manager of the Texas Rangers, had coined the term “winning ugly” to refer to the playstyle of that season’s champions, the Chicago White Sox. Oakland Athletics’ victory on the day can be described similarly.
Three runs were scored by the A’s without any of them because of a hit in the tenth innings of the game. The unearned runs came from Alex Colome, the closer for the Twins, giving away two walks. It was followed by two harsh errors by Luis Arraez and Travis Blankenhorn, the infielders of the Twins. Both were chances for two-outs.
Oakland Athletics had a horrid start to the season by losing 0-6. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros carried on with the demolition in the first six games, outscoring Oakland 50-13. After that, two games were split.
That was the point where Oakland Athletics turned something on. Now they have equaled their second-longest win streak after their historic 2002, 20-game streak. The 2002 streak was famous enough to be immortalized in Brad Pitt-starring “Moneyball”. Scott Hatteberg had won the last game in the streak after an 11 run lead was blown by the A’s.
Bob Melvin, the manager of Oakland Athletics, said that currently the team is focused on seeing through the run of form. He says that there has been a complete reversal. The team was soundly bashed in the starting six games. They not only came back but have strung together this kind of a run. The manager said that it is a testament to the team’s spirit and how they never gave up.
