A's 'still grinding' toward playoffs amid laborious stretch originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Athletics (77-67) were up 6-0 in the third inning of Tuesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. By the time things were over, the A’s had fallen, 10-7.
While media still remains outside of having clubhouse access, A’s manager Bob Melvin said the awareness among the team amid their playoff push hasn’t escaped them.
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“Look, we’re still grinding,” Melvin said after the game. “We know where we’re at. We’ve had some, you know, tough games along the way in the last couple of weeks. It looked like we were on our way out of it. And we’re gotten bitten a couple times here recently. So everybody knows where we are right now.”
Seven-time All-Star and Royals catcher, Salvador Perez, hit his 43rd home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Royals ahead, 8-7. Then, rookie Kyle Isbel hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, the first of his career, to seal the deal.
The A’s have lost seven of their last 10 games, with their AL Wild-Card Game chances slowly slipping away.
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A’s veteran reliever Yusmeiro Petit, doesn’t feel like there are any concerns, however.
“There are no worries right now for the position we have,” Petit said after the game. “We’re focused every day, so when they -- especially today, because we’re not talking about the other things.”
Starter Frankie Montas in only 3 1/3 innings, gave up four earned runs and eight hits, striking out four.
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“I feel like we’re just going to flip the page over and focus about tomorrow and do all the games that we’ve got left,” Montas said. Can’t be stuck on one game. We have 19, 20 more games left. You have to keep moving forward and just keep on trying and go out there and trying to win ball games.”
The A’s have no choice but to do just that. They are now fifth in the AL wild-card race with the New York Yankees (81-64) and Toronto Blue Jays (81-64) sitting atop those standings.
