It took every bit of 162 games, but the Oakland Athletics are headed to the MLB playoffs for the third consecutive season.
The former owners of the best record in baseball just a couple of months ago blew their first shot at securing the AL wild-card slot Saturday. Oakland regrouped and took down the Texas Rangers 4-0 Sunday afternoon behind a complete-game shutout from ace Sonny Gray on the mound.
The team celebrated the feat on Twitter:
MLB.com provides the final out of game No. 162:
MLB noted the lengthy journey for Gray and the rest of the roster:
The Athletics entered Sunday losers in ...
The Oakland Raiders are off to an 0-3 start to the season, and the team desperately needs a win as it heads into its bye week. The Raiders will be looking to get on track Sunday as they take on the Miami Dolphins in London. Kickoff can be seen on CBS at 1 p.m. ET live from Wembley Stadium.
After two poor performances, the Raiders had their best game of the season in Week 3 against the New England Patriots. The game still ended in a loss, but it was the first time that the team had a performance to build ...
Despite starting the season 0-3, the Oakland Raiders played much better in their last game. The defensive line finally showed up, and the offense was able to stay away (mostly) from costly turnovers. Oakland still lost, but there were at least some positives to build off of.
The most pleasant surprise of Week 3 was the play of the defense. Heading into the game, the consensus was that the New England Patriots would win comfortably. That turned out not to be the case as the Oakland defense had by far its best performance of the season.
The secondary bent but never broke, ...
My mama always told me, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Well, if you go by that philosophy, there hasn't been much to say about the Oakland A's over the past two months.
But with the A's looking likely to fall backwards into the postseason, fans are looking for something, anything, good to say about this team. "All you need to do is get in, then anything can happen," they say, halfheartedly. Because, while that's ostensibly true, there's not a whole lot of evidence in front of us for anyone to truly believe that.
Nonetheless, I'm nothing ...
Since knocking off the New England Patriots in the opening weekend, the Miami Dolphins have lost two in a row both straight up and against the spread.
Luckily for the Dolphins, their next game comes against a team they've beaten four times in a row, the Oakland Raiders, Sunday afternoon on the neutral field at Wembley Stadium in London.
Point spread: The Dolphins opened as 3.5-point favorites; the total was 41 (line updates and matchup report).
Odds Shark computer prediction: 19.3-11.8 Dolphins
Why the Dolphins can cover the spread
The Dolphins have lost two games in a row, but both games were up for grabs ...
The Oakland Raiders fans of the "Black Hole" are some of the most dedicated and craziest fans in the NFL. They take game-day preparation to a whole other level beyond tailgating.
Watch as we follow Skulls, Metal Cindy and Darth Raider behind the scenes of the Oakland Raiders' game-day tradition.
Let us know what you think in the comments below.Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com
Back in March when the Oakland Raiders traded for Matt Schaub, head coach Dennis Allen immediately named him the starting quarterback. A month later, the Raiders traded away Terrelle Pryor. This left only Schaub and Matt McGloin on the roster, further solidifying Allen's prediction.
But this was before the draft. This was before the Raiders didn't try to trade up from their second-round spot and were rewarded for their patience when Derek Carr fell in their lap.
With his arrival, the speculation immediately began regarding not if but when Carr would take over as starter. Five games into the season? Eight? Next ...
The Oakland Raiders' secondary is beat up right now, though you would never know it based on their fourth-ranked pass defense. Coach Dennis Allen's latest test will be to find a replacement for starting strong safety Tyvon Branch. The Raiders announced Branch's season is over after placing him on injured reserve:ESPN's Adam Caplan indicates the foot injury will require surgery:Branch left Sunday's 16-9 loss against New England in the third quarter with a broken foot, according to Vic Tafur of The San Francisco Chronicle. It's the second consecutive year he will miss most of the season with a leg injury, as ...
The Oakland A's could look a bit different in 2015, dependent on how the postseason plays out.
If the team doesn't make the playoffs at all, general manager Billy Beane could put everyone in cleats on the trade block. If they win the World Series, Beane may feel that after capturing that elusive ring, one in Oakland is good enough and recommit to the farm system.
If, however, the team barely falls short of a World Series win, management could keep the roster intact. With Beane at the helm, you just never know.
Let's be realistic and go somewhere in the middle.
The A's ...
It's been a while since anyone was afraid of the Oakland A's.
After boasting baseball's highest-scoring offense and the game's best record for much of the first half, the A's have plunged into a vertigo-inducing free fall. They're 26-34 since the All-Star break and 19-29 since they traded slugger Yoenis Cespedes to the Boston Red Sox for ace Jon Lester.
The point of the Lester deal was to bolster the rotation for a deep playoff run. Now, Oakland is scrambling desperately just to get to October.
"The production across the board from everybody was much better in the first four months or so ...