2021 Oakland Athletics

2021 Oakland Athletics / Franchise: Oakland Athletics / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 86-76, Finished 3rd in AL Western Division (2021 AL)

Coaches: Mike Aldrete, Darren Bush, Ryan Christenson, Scott Emerson, Marcus Jensen, Mark Kotsay, Eric Martins and Al Pedrique

Ballpark: RingCentral Coliseum

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 2021 Oakland Athletics started the year on the wrong foot as not only were they swept at home by the Houston Astros in a four-game series, but they gave up at least 9 runs in each of the four games. To make things even worse, they lost their next two games as well to fall to 0-6, matching the worst start in franchise history, before they finally won a game on April 7th. It came against the defending World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers and required extra innings before off-season acquisition Mitch Moreland singled in Mark Canha with the winning run off Jimmy Nelson for a 4-3 win. That first win out of the way, they quickly righted the ship, as after another loss, they reeled off 10 straight wins to improve to 11-7 and get themselves back in the division race. Wins 9 and 10 came in a doubleheader sweep of the Minnesota Twins on April 20th, both wins coming by way of shutout, something not achieved by the A's since September 9, 1974. Of course, back then, the two games were nine-inning games and Vida Blue and Catfish Hunter had both pitched complete game. This time, they were two seven-inning games, with Sean Manaea pitching a complete game in the opener, and Jesus Luzardo being relieved after 5 1/3 innings in the nitecap. It took an epic win to make it 11 wins in a row on April 21st, as they defeated the Twins by a wild score of 13-12. This included coming back from a run down in the bottom of the 9th against closer Alex Colome to force extra innings, and then mounting a three-run push without the benefit of a hit in the 10th after Byron Buxton had hit a two-run homer in the 10th: the Twins committed back-to-back errors, by Travis Blankenhorn and Luis Arraez, to allow the A's to win the game. The streak reached 13 wins before being ended by a loss to the Baltimore Orioles on April 25th.