Here is a list of a few of the intradivisional games scheduled for the final day of the regular season:
- Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals;
- Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees;
- Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays;
- San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers; and
- Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals.
Out of all those match ups, what oracle would have ever predicted that the game between the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics would be the most meaningful or have the biggest impact on the post season schedule? Imagine suggesting on July 1st, with Oakland 13 games back of the Rangers and five games under .500, that in three months time, that the A’s would be playing for a chance at the division title on the last regular season game of the year. You’d be accused of trolling on Twitter, if anyone actually took you seriously enough to believe that you were being genuine.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about today’s game is that its importance wasn’t necessarily caused by Texas choking down the stretch or anything of the sort. The Oakland A’s have played .685 baseball for the last three months.
And that quality of play continued this afternoon, as the Athletics beat the Rangers 12-5 in front of a sold-out Oakland Coliseum, to claim the American League West Division title and the right to play at least three playoff games. Here’s how it happened:
