Streaking Athletics show no signs of slowing down

OAKLAND, Calif. – When the Oakland Athletics put together their biggest month-to-month improvement in 25 years, manager Ken Macha said it couldn’t last. When they went from 15 games under .500 to a winning record, he repeated it.

And now that they’ve followed up their remarkable June with an even better July, Macha is sticking to the same line.

“It would be nice to be able to stay this hot, but I don’t think that kind of thing happens very often,” he said.

Remarkably, it’s happened twice in one season. Both wild card leaders – Oakland and Houston – were 15 games under .500 in May. The 1914 Boston Braves are the only team to make the postseason after falling so far under the break-even mark.

“It’s awesome, but we can’t get complacent,” A’s starter Barry Zito said. “We would like to win the West, but there’s still a third of the season left. I’m sure all of us would like October to come sooner than it is.”

The A’s followed up a seven-win May with 19 victories in June – matching the biggest turnaround in Oakland history – and then did one better in July, going 20-6. They entered August having won 11 of 12 and 41 of 55 since dropping to 17-32 on May 29.

These second-half turnarounds are nothing new for Oakland, which won 14 of its first 17 games after the All-Star break. The A’s have been baseball’s best post-break team since 2000, a factor in their playoff runs from 2000-03.

But this year was supposed to be different after aces Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder were traded in the offseason. Even though Oakland withstood the departures of Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Johnny Damon, Jason Isringhausen and Keith Foulke in recent years, many thought the breakup of the “Big Three” would end Oakland’s run as a contender.

That all changed once Bobby Crosby, returned on May 30 after missing nearly two months with broken ribs. It continued with an infusion of energy from four rookies – Dan Johnson, Nick Swisher, Huston Street and Joe Blanton.

“Even in spring training I was looking forward to this year because of the young guys,” Beane said. “Obviously, it’s a lot more fun today than it was in May. But as a general manager it’s really rewarding watching the young guys play so well.”

The A’s got another boost from their midseason deals.

Jay Payton hit five homers in his first 13 games since the trade, matching his total in 55 games with Boston. Jay Witasick and Joe Kennedy have added bullpen depth, each winning one game and combining for a 2.60 ERA.

“The trades we made a couple of weeks ago were not headline moves, but for this team they were huge,” said third baseman Eric Chavez, who has turned his season around after his usual slow start. “We really filled some holes with those three acquisitions.”

After watching his team get swept last weekend, Tigers manager Alan Trammell said Oakland was as good as any team he’s seen.

“When you talk about these guys you really do use the word team,” Trammell said. “They feel good right now. They can beat anybody. … If they can ride it out and keep playing like this they can not only win the wild card, but win the division.”