Looking for a pesky spoiler? The A's fit the bill

It won't exactly make up for the 1990 World Series — won by Cincinnati in a sweep over Oakland — but the Athletics played the role of spoiler to perfection this past weekend when they won three straight over the Reds. If you haven't been paying attention, the A's have shown this potential for a while. The Athletics were above .500 in mid-May before a horrendous stretch of 20 losses in 21 games. But since the All-Star break, the A's are 29-23, and they have the third-best run differential in baseball. Nick Kurtz is having a sensational rookie season, and Jacob Wilson has an outside shot to win the franchise's first batting title since 1952, when it was playing in Philadelphia. With the Reds inching closer to a wild card in the National League, the A's outscored Cincinnati 21-9 in their weekend series. Perhaps fittingly, the Athletics have a better record on the road (37-38) than at their minor league home ballpark in West Sacramento, California (33-42). They've already reached 70 wins for the first time since 2021. It's hard to say whether the A's should be considered a possible contender next year, given how unstable the franchise feels as it eyes a permanent move to Las Vegas. But right now, contending teams should be wary. The Athletics have series with the Red Sox and Astros still to come. Batting races While Wilson (.318) tries to chase down Aaron Judge (.326) in the American League, Trea Turner of Philadelphia is leading the NL batting race with a .305 average. He's the only qualifying hitter in the league above .300, with Chicago's Nico Hoerner (.299) the nearest competitor. The lowest average by a batting champion is Carl Yastrzemski's .301 in the AL in 1968. The lowest in NL history is Tony Gwynn's .313 in 1988, but that record seems likely to fall. Avoiding history After losing 50 of their first 59 games, the Colorado Rockies looked like a threat to break the modern record of 121 losses, set just last year by the Chicago White Sox. But the Rockies have improved enough to earn their 41st victory Friday night at San Diego. That means the worst they can do is tie the White Sox, and that would require losing every remaining game. Trivia time Kurtz is a near-lock to become the first Athletics player to win Rookie of the Year honors since Andrew Bailey in 2009. Also during their Oakland tenure, the A's were the only AL team to date to produce three Rookie of the Year winners in a row. Who were they? Line of the week Kody Clemens hit three home runs and a double, including a solo shot in the top of the ninth inning that helped the Minnesota Twins to a 9-8 win over Arizona on Friday night. Clemens' father, former pitcher Roger Clemens, allowed at least three homers 17 times in 707 career starts. Comeback of the week Milwaukee trailed St. Louis 6-1 in the sixth and 7-4 in the ninth before rallying to win 9-8 in 10 innings Saturday night. After two hit batters to start the bottom of the ninth, Sal Frelick hit an RBI double. Two more infield singles tied it at 7, and after the Cardinals turned a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation into just one run in the 10th, Caleb Durbin hit an RBI double and Andruw Monasterio followed with the game-winning single. Milwaukee's win probability was just 1.9% in the ninth, according to Baseball Savant. The Brewers have 11 walk-off victories this year, tied with San Francisco for the most in baseball. Trivia answer From 1986-88, Oakland had Rookie of the Year winners Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Walt Weiss. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb