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Oakland Athletics: 5 Surprising Facts about the Hottest Team in Baseball

By Alison Sperling

OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 1: Oakland Athletics Vice President and General Manager Billy Beane speaks during a news conference announcing Lew Wolff as the new owner and managing partner of the Athletics on April 1, 2005 in Oakland, California. Major League Baseball approved the sale of the Athletics on March 30th to a group headed by Wolff which includes his son, Keith Wolff, and billionaire John Fisher, son of Gap founder Donald Fisher. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 1: Oakland Athletics Vice President and General Manager Billy Beane speaks during a news conference announcing Lew Wolff as the new owner and managing partner of the Athletics on April 1, 2005 in Oakland, California. Major League Baseball approved the sale of the Athletics on March 30th to a group headed by Wolff which includes his son, Keith Wolff, and billionaire John Fisher, son of Gap founder Donald Fisher. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) /
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Oakland Athletics
OAKLAND, CA – APRIL 16: Jed Lowrie /

2018 Oakland Athletics Fact #2: Call Them the Comeback Kids

The Oakland Athletics have scored an MLB-high of 185 runs in the seventh through ninth innings, including the most runs scored in the eighth (76) and the most runs in the ninth (53). They average a league-high 1.8 runs in the 7th inning or later.

As of Tuesday, A’s beat writer Susan Slusser reports, the team had earned 16 of their last 25 wins in comeback games, and in a miraculous 11 of the games, they scored the winning run in the eighth inning or later. Last night’s 9th inning win boosts this number to 12.

Two back-to-back comeback wins against the Texas Rangers were an incredible testament of this team’s perseverance . Down 10-2 to start the 7th on Tuesday, the A’s roared back in a series of improbable plays and opposing pitching breakdowns to tie the game in the ninth with a Stephen Piscotty solo home run. Khris Davis would hit the game winning 3-run blast to give the A’s a 13-10 win.

In case you missed it: that’s a whopping 11-run comeback after the 7th inning, the most ever by an A’s team this late in the game since they have been in Oakland (the last time was in 1939). Last night Davis would repeat his performance with a ninth inning blast to lift the A’s from a 5-4 game (they were down 5-1 to start the seventh) to another comeback win.

This is a team that simply will not let any deficit damper their will to win.

Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics /

2018 Oakland Athletics Fact #3: They Lead the Majors in Home Runs and Slugging on the Road

The Oakland Athletics score an average of 5.72 runs per game on the road, that is tied for most in MLB with the Houston Astros. Compare that to their 3.7ish run average at home, and one can see that this team really thrives in opponent’s parks.

They also surprisingly lead the league in home runs on the road by a mile, with 95 so far. On June 23rd, Oakland set a new MLB record by hitting a home run in their 25th consecutive road game. The team also leads the majors in RBI’s (307) and in team slugging percentage (.472) in away games.

This is a team that many clubs will continue to fear facing in their own home ballparks.

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