The 5 Most Heartbreaking Games of the Oakland Athletics' Stretch Run
A season that began with so much promise ended with the Oakland Athletics skidding into the last wild-card spot then heading home after a marathon game that seemed to sum up the year as a whole.
The A's were 72-44 on August 9, four games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels and outscoring opponents by nearly 100 runs more than the next-best team. But a power outage at the plate combined with a shaky bullpen saw Oakland finish the season 16-30, falling 10 games behind the Angels in the process.
Oakland lost a surprising amount of close games to bad teams, all too often at the hands of replacement-level players or young guys up for cups of coffee in September. Losing against mostly top-level teams would have been disappointing, if not understandable, but seeing the Athletics fall out of contention despite a relatively easy schedule added insult to injury.
The A's had plenty of bright spots in the 2014 season even as the team faltered down the stretch. But more often than not, their games had painful endings and left fans and analysts alike wondering what had gone wrong.
Dishonorable Mention
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September 10 vs. Chicago White Sox: 2-1 Loss
Jeff Samardzija threw seven scoreless innings, and Adam Dunn knocked in a run against his former team, but Avisail Garcia's bases-loaded single off Luke Gregerson in the eighth gave Chicago the win.
August 11 vs. Kansas City Royals: 3-2 Loss
The A's went hitless from the second inning to the ninth then couldn't push the tying run across the plate with two men on and no outs.
August 26 vs. Houston Astros: 4-2 Loss
Gregerson blew another one, this time to former Athletic Chris Carter, whose three-run moonshot erased the A's lead in the eighth. Though he was tagged with four losses in August and September, Gregerson was actually one of the team's more reliable bullpen arms, finishing the season with a 2.12 ERA and 1.01 WHIP.
5. September 8 vs. Chicago White Sox: 5-4 Loss
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Despite finishing fourth in the AL Central, Chicago had a handful of dangerous hitters like Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton and Alexei Ramirez who could have beaten the A's. Instead, it was catcher Tyler Flowers who almost single-handedly stole the first game of the series for the ChiSox.
Flowers popped a solo home run off interim closer Eric O'Flaherty to tie the game in the ninth inning. The normally reliable O'Flaherty allowed three homers in four appearances while Sean Doolittle was on the disabled list.
The final damage wasn't done, though. Converted starter Jesse Chavez served up a 12th-inning walk-off bomb to Flowers, who finished the year with a career-best 15 long balls. As one player formed his breakout season, Oakland was falling apart.
4. September 20 vs. Philadelphia Phillies: 3-0 Loss
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The A's were shut out by Phillies pitcher Jerome Williams, who became the first player in major league history to win three games against one team with three different organizations in a season, via Mike Wagaman of CSNPhilly.com. Williams had previously beaten Oakland with Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, his only win for each of the cellar dwellers.
One of the A's biggest problems at the end of the season was stranding runners in scoring position. Catcher Derek Norris contributed to the ugly trend by squandering the team's best chance, grounding into a bases-loaded double play to end the second inning. His chopper to second baseman Chase Utley marked the 11th consecutive time the A's went hitless with the bases loaded, per San Jose Mercury News writer Carl Steward.
Williams outdueled Drew Pomeranz, who turned in five scoreless innings before light-hitting Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis homered off reliever Dan Otero. A former starter for the Sacramento River Cats when they were the A's Triple-A affialiate, Williams has a 2.25 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over 20 innings against his old organization throughout an otherwise unremarkable career.
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3. September 18 vs. Texas Rangers: 6-1 Loss
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With the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners surging at the end of the season, Oakland had a huge opportunity to pull ahead in the wild-card race against the worst team in the majors. But Texas routed the A's in three straight games, battering three of the team's best pitchers in the process.
In the first game of the series, Scott Kazmir was on the losing end of a 6-3 final. Samardzija threw eight shutout innings the next night, but Doolittle gave up five runs in the ninth to erase the team's 1-0. Sonny Gray was hit for four runs in the first inning of Sunday's game, and the A's feeble offense never had a chance after that.
Oakland scored a total of six runs over three games in a hitter's ballpark against scrubs like Nick Tepesch, Robbie Ross Jr. and Nick Martinez. Things looked bleak after the sweep at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, especially with another series against Texas looming at the end of the season.
2. August 31 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: 8-1 Loss
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The last series in August made A's fans realize their team likely would not repeat as American League West champions. A bit of sloppy play in August had allowed the Angels to sneak ahead in the division race, but Oakland came into the four-game set looking to climb back on top.
It was a disaster from the beginning. Howie Kendrick's 10th-inning sacrifice fly won the first game of the series, then the A's offense went scoreless over the next two nights.
By the time Josh Reddick singled in Sam Fuld in the eighth inning of the last game, the A's had gone 29 consecutive innings without crossing the plate. After the Angels closed out the 8-1 win, Oakland stood five games back in the division.
The sweep prompted general manager Billy Beane to trade for slugger Adam Dunn, who hit .212/.316/.318 in 66 at-bats with the A's.
1. September 30 vs. Kansas City Royals: 9-8 Loss
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What other game could take the unfortunate No. 1 spot? As shortstop Jed Lowrie told the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser, it was a "microcosm of the season."
A 7-3 eighth-inning lead with Jon Lester on the mound should be safe. But the Royals ran all over A's catcher Derek Norris, ran a sacrifice-bunt clinic and scratched out three runs headed into the ninth inning.
When Athletics nemesis Josh Willingham led off the ninth with a single, everyone knew it was headed to extras. Sure enough, pinch runner Jarrod Dyson moved over to second on a bunt, stole third and came in on Nori Aoki's sacrifice fly.
Callaspo's single put the A's ahead 8-7 in the 12th inning, which lasted until Eric Hosmer led off the bottom of the frame with a triple to left-center. Rookie Christian Colon knocked him in with an infield single, swiped second and ended Oakland's season when he scored on Salvador Perez's poke down the left field line.
It was a painfully fitting end to a season full of ups and downs. A's fans will spend the offseason asking themselves what if Coco Crisp had been playing center on Hosmer's triple, or if Josh Donaldson could have caught Perez's liner had he been fully healthy, or, of course, what would have happened if Yoenis Cespedes had never been traded.
Until next year. Again.
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