How big can a win really be on April 24th with 137 games left to play? The answer is that you can’t view such a game as “essential” no matter who the opponent or what the standings may be, as you could each game in 2012 as the season was winding down.
At the same time, though, not all games are of equal value even if they each count for exactly one win or one loss. Against the current division leader, last night’s game represented a “2 game swing” — if the A’s won they were going to end the series 2 games back of 1st place and if they lost they were going to end the series 4 games back.