Good evening and welcome to the biggest Friday night game thread of the year! We’d best prepare the wine and take a few deep breaths. But no pressure Friday night. It’s hard to believe, even after everything magical that has happened so far this season, that it is the very last day of August and the A’s are competing in games into September from which they hold an actual playoff spot, especially in a year when the AL is so clearly stacked.
No team in the National League has reached the 80 win mark so far this season; yet four AL teams (the A’s are one) have managed to hit it by tonight’s game.