Standings update: Amazin’ A’s trail Yankees by 3 1/2 games, Astros by 5
With the Mariners in the A’s rear-view mirror, the next team straight ahead in the American League wild-card race is the Yankees, holding a mere 3 1/2-game edge over Oakland.
If both the A’s and Yankees qualify for the wild card, the team with the better record would host the one-game playoff. It would be Oakland’s first postseason appearance since its heartbreaking 9-8 wild-card loss in Kansas City four years ago.
The A’s are paying attention to the standings, of course, but apparently not totally focused on the fate of their competition.
“You can’t help but watch these things,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said before Sunday’s series finale against Detroit, “but I don’t focus too much on it.