Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea pitching against the Seattle Mariners in this Jul 21, 2021 photo at T Mobile Field in Seattle will start against the Houston Astros on Fri Oct 1, 2021 at Minute Maid Field in Houston (AP News file photo)

A’s Take On the Astros to End the Season

By Barbara Mason

It has been a mixed bag for the Oakland A’s the past week. It’s been sheer madness. Last week they were swept by the Mariners in a four series followed by an A’s sweep of the division leading Houston Astros. Last Monday the A’s again fell to the Mariners in a three game sweep. The loss yesterday was the twelfth loss in a row to the Seattle Mariners. The A’s cannot seem to crack this team and it has been beyond frustrating.

Starting tomorrow the A’s will finish their season in a three game series, again, with the Houston Astros. Hoping to duplicate last weeks series it would be a nice way to finish the season.

Now that the playoffs will have to wait until next year some wins over Houston would be a very good thing. Chris Bassitt had said that the team is very disappointed. They had the playoffs in clear view until they stumbled for the better part of September losing 15 games.

It was inconsistent play that was the A’s demise. A lot of trouble in the bullpen and at times the starters. They did have a bit of a drought when it came to hitting here and there. The defense was consistently solid one of the bright spots in the season.

So here we have the Houston Astros one last time. Oakland will not have the booing fans that they did in Oakland. The only place right now that the Astros are not hassled is right here at home in Houston.

At the time of this story the Astros were undecided as far as pitching. Oakland will send Sean Manea to the mound. His record is 10-10 with an ERA of 3.94. Matt Olson figures to be a factor in this weeks games. He has had 38 home runs this season and will no doubt add one or two more.

So it will be a bittersweet ending for the Oakland A’s. They were in contention for postseason action almost the entire season. Now it has come down to; maybe next year. Despite all of it the A’s gave their fans alot to cheer about this season. They had some great games and I believe they have a bright future. Yes there is some work to do but they will get it done; Skipper Melvin will see to that.