Athletics Go All Shock-&-Awe on Astros in Key Weekend Series Opener

With apologies to the late Yogi Berra, it's 2002 all over again.

Back then, players no one took seriously turned into a buncha Moneyball lab rats who caught fire in August and wedged their way into the post-season.

Those Oakland Athletics did have a six-time gold glove winning 3B in Eric Chavez. These Oakland Athletics have Matt Chapman in the hot corner, a dude who could win a batch of them himself.

 

For the most part, though, both of those A's versions are populated with dudes who are solid in their own right, but they're hardly household names to all but their diehard fans, a rare breed in their own right.

As far as the sporting public at large knows, dudes could be interchangeable with the lineup for those anonymous St Louis Wolves:

 

After waking up the baseball public by sweeping the Astros in Houston before the All-Star break, the A's have become one of the game's prime stories. Dudes are on a 39-13 tear after last night's 10th-inning, 4-3 walkoff comeback against the 'Stros in Oakland.

The A's are turning that sorta ending into a trademark.

 

The fireworks in this one launched in the bottom of the ninth.

The A's were down 3-2, speedy newcomer -- a former Astro prospect, incidentally -- Ramone Laureano pinch-running at first base, and Nick Martini at the plate.

What happened next was a blur:

 

Khris Davis and Matt Olson have served as Oakland's engine room all season long.

One thing Olson's never done, though, is be the dude who walked one off.

Now he has:

 

As if there was any doubt coming into this series, the AL West is a two-team race.

It may yet be a three-way, but the Seattle Mariners have a few wrinkles to iron out.

 

On Sat 16 Jun, the Athletics were 11½ games behind Houston. A lot's gone on in the past two months.

The 'Stros' defense of their World Series title is getting dramatic much earlier than they thought it might.