Elephant Rumblings: 2024 Wild Card round underway

MLB news roundup

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

The 2024 MLB Postseason is underway, and the first games of all four Wild Card series are in the books. For the fourth straight season, the Athletics will see the playoffs as spectators only. But there are a number of former A’s with World Series hopes this fall, and as no teams were particularly dominant in the regular season, fans should hope for especially fierce competition and plenty of surprises this October.

Lucas Erceg recently donned green and gold, but he came up big for the Royals yesterday with his first postseason save as Kansas City held on to beat the Orioles by a razor thin 1-0 margin. The winner of this best-of-three series at Camden Yards will advance to face the top-seeded Yankees in the divisional round.

The other AL Wild Card game between the Tigers and Astros was also a low scoring affair, as one might expect from a matchup between Tigers ace Tarik Skubal and Astros two-time All-Star Framber Valdez. Many fans should be happy that the Tigers came out on top, 3-1 and can punch their ticket to take on Stephen Vogt and the Guardians in the ALDS with one more win in Houston.

The Mets faced the Brewers in Milwaukee yesterday, fresh off Monday’s epic doubleheader split with the Braves that somehow got both teams Wild Card berths while eliminating the National League Champion Diamondbacks—even though all three teams finished even Steven in the regular season. Former A’s cameo Starling Marte is in his third season with the Mets, who pounded the Brew Crew 8-4 to take the series advantage. The winner of this series will move on to Philly.

The Atlanta Braves have a trio of former A’s stars, including Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, and Ramon Laureano. As an Angeleno with tickets to a couple NLDS games, I’d love to see the Braves play the Dodgers this weekend. But the Padres dealt my wishes a setback with a 4-0 shutout win over Atlanta last night at Petco Park in San Diego.

All four series continue today, and any of them can end with a repeat win by yesterday’s victor. Onward into October.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s have three nominees for All-MLB
• Oakland A’s are gone, but legacy lives on during MLB playoffs
• What Jerseys Should the A’s Wear in Sacramento?

MLB News & Interest:

• Ragans dazzles over 6 scoreless as Royals take Game 1 vs. O’s
• Skubal silences Astros, then ‘pen hangs on for thrilling Game 1 win
• Aggressive Mets put pressure on Crew to claim eventful Game 1
• King of the hill! Righty’s 12 K’s, Tatis’ HR propel Padres in Game 1
• Pete Rose Passes Away
• Giants Fire Farhan Zaidi, Name Buster Posey President Of Baseball Operations
• 2024-25 MLB Free Agents
• Chris Sale Not On Braves’ Wild Card Roster
• Justin Verlander Not On Astros’ Wild Card Roster
• Brewers Owner Discusses Upcoming Offseason
• Buster Posey ‘asked for the ball’ and Giants gave it to him. Here’s why and what’s next ($)
• MLB sees highest increase in viewership, attendance in years
• Mariners Expected To Increase Payroll In 2025
• With Buster Posey at the Giants’ helm, where does Bob Melvin stand? ($)
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

ESPN podcast series on the A’s departure wrapped up yesterday.