But nobody boasts three starters to match the Oakland Athletics. Heck, make that four. And that’s why the A’s, as unlikely as it may have seemed a couple of months ago, have as good a chance any -- and better than some -- to be the last team standing in October.
With five weeks left in the season -- well, we can hope, anyway -- the A’s already have established themselves as the kings of the second-half runs by opening up a two-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the wild AL West.
Since stumbling to a 20-26 start on May 23, Oakland has played better than .700 baseball (60-25). After Monday's 6-3 win against Kansas City, the A’s are riding a 13-game winning streak, their longest since winning an Oakland-record 14 in a row in 1988.
And all this after blazing through a 58-17 second half in 2001 en route to snaring the AL wild-card berth with a 106-60 mark.
The really incredible thing? With one notable exception, the A’s are hardly the same team they were a year ago.
Fourth in runs scored in the AL in 2001, thanks to now-departed hitting stars Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon, this season they’ve had to scratch and claw to rank eighth. Shortstop Miguel Tejada has established himself as a bona fide star (27 home runs, 109 RBIs, .309 average) and third baseman Eric Chavez is more than solid (30-90-.274), but the rest of the offense is serviceable at best.
Of course, that may be more than good enough, considering the array of talent that the A’s send to the mound. Most fans know all about the big three -- Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. Cy Young contender Zito is 42-17 since coming up in mid-2000, including 18-5 this season with a 2.89 ERA. Mulder, like Zito a left-hander, is 15-7 this season after finishing second in the Cy Young race with a 21-8 mark last year. Hudson, the Cy Young runner-up in 2000, is a mere 11-9 -- but 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA in August.
And then there’s the hottest pitcher of them all -- Cory Lidle. Little more than a throw-in from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the three-way trade that netted the A’s Damon before last season, the 30-year-old right-hander was just 1-6 with a 6.16 ERA in June, prompting rumors that he could be on the block.
But since mid-June, Lidle is 6-2 with a pair of one-hitters. Lidle's consecutive scoreless streak ended at 32 innings Monday with an unearned run in the victory over the Royals. That is second in the majors this season only to Pedro Martinez’s 35 straight.
"I don't know if words can describe how well he pitched," A's manager Art Howe said after Wednesday’s win. "He changed speeds, he threw everything for a strike, he kept them off-balance all night. It was a clinic on how to pitch."
It gets even scarier for A’s opponents. Ted Lilly (4-6, 3.39), another lefty, could be off the DL by mid-September.. And we haven’t even mentioned closer Billy Koch (33 saves, 2.96 ERA), who has done an exemplary job of replacing Jason Isringhausen, or Chad Bradford (4-2, 2.07), one of the best setup men in either league.
GM Billy Beane, of course, deserves kudos for key mid-season moves to bolster the lineup, especially given that the A’s $39.6 million Opening Day payroll ranked ahead of just two teams -- the Montreal Expos and the Devil Rays. Beane not only added Lilly and picked up lefty Ricardo Rincon in July to bolster the bullpen, but he also gave the offense a little lift by acquiring second baseman Ray Durham from the Chicago White Sox.
Ultimately, however, the A’s will only go as far as their starting pitching will take them. Just don’t be surprised if that includes a trip to the World Series.
CNNSI.com's Power Rankings
Rank
LW
Team
1
3
Arizona Diamondbacks Another incredible Curt Schilling stat: Last week against Cincinnati, he made it to the third inning before he threw a ball. Schilling made just 13 pitches in the first two innings -- all strikes.
2
1
Atlanta Braves He may not match his 38 homers of a year ago, but Chipper Jones is back in form. Since the All-Star break, he's is batting .353 with 12 homers and 32 RBIs.
Oakland Athletics Oakland starters had reeled off 11 straight victories until Sunday, when reliever Jim Mecir got the win after they rallied for five eighth-inning runs to beat the Tigers 10-7.
5
5
Anaheim Angels A bad sign for a team that’s had plenty of late-season trouble over the years. A partially torn rotator cuff has made Aaron Sele (8-9, 4.91 ERA) the first member of the Anaheim rotation to hit the DL this season.
6
4
Seattle Mariners In Texas, the bullpen blew six leads for Ismael Valdes this season. What a nice 29th birthday present for him, then, when Arthur Rhodes and Kazuhiro Sasaki retired the final six Tigers batters to preserve an 8-2 victory in Valdes' debut for the M’s.
7
7
Minnesota Twins How loose are these guys? Last Friday, closer Eddie Guardado shoved a shaving cream pie in the face of manager Ron Gardenhire. The next night? Guardado was playing cards before the game … when Gardenhire tossed a live lobster in his lap.
8
9
Los Angeles Dodgers Doesn’t look like Yom Kippur will be an issue for Shawn Green this year. Last season, Green sat out a game to observe the Jewish holiday. This year, Yom Kippur begins at sundown Sept. 15 and ends about 24 hours later. The Dodgers play an afternoon game at Colorado on Sept. 15, then are at home for a 7 p.m. game the next day.
9
8
Boston Red Sox That curse thing certainly doesn’t include attendance. On Thursday night, they reached 2 million in attendance on their 61st home date -- the earliest in team history.
10
10
St. Louis Cardinals What sophomore jinx? Albert Pujols is just one home run away from becoming the first Cardinal to hit at least 30 homers in each of his first two seasons. Only four Cards have ever had back-to-back 30-homer seasons: Stan Musial, Mark McGwire, Jim Edmonds and Ray Lankford.
11
11
San Francisco Giants So Barry Bonds’ bat snaps in two when he hits a home run at Pro Player Stadium. Ten years ago, we would simply have been in awe. Now, sadly, we just wonder about the "s" word.
12
12
Houston Astros Their 1-0 victory over the Reds on Sunday was the Astros’ seventh shutout of the season -- all at hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park.
13
14
Montreal Expos Have they played their last game in Montreal? Maybe. They’re on the road until Aug. 30 -- the scheduled strike date. Only 8,266 fans showed up for what might be their final home game, a 4-0 win over the Padres on Aug. 19.
14
17
Philadelphia Phillies The most homers hit by two brothers in a season is 59, by Joe DiMaggio (46) and Dom DiMaggio (13) in 1937. It could be in jeopardy. Jason Giambi has 32 for the Yankees, while brother Jeremy has 19 for the A’s and Phillies, a total of 51.
15
13
Cincinnati Reds If the Rockies’ Jason Jennings isn’t NL Rookie of the Year, it’ll probably be Austin Kearns. The outfielder is leading NL rookies in batting average, hits, RBI, doubles, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
16
16
Baltimore Orioles Thoroughbred Zippy Chippy is 0-93 against other horses. But he’s 2-1 in races with bipeds after beating O’s minor leaguer Larry Bigpie by four lengths the other night in Rochester. "I felt good going into the race,” Bigbie said, “but the wet track had me scared."
17
15
Florida Marlins In 47 major league starts before this year, A.J. Burnett threw 120 or more pitches in just three games. This year -- for a team that’s now 19 ½ games out of first -- the 25-year-old right-hander went over 120 10 times. Now he’s on the DL with an acute bone bruise in his elbow.
18
18
Colorado Rockies Some players sound as if they actually get the ramifications of a work stoppage. "We aren't dumb enough to go on strike and the [owners] aren't dumb enough to let us go out," said Rockies reliever Todd Jones. "I hope I am right."
19
20
Chicago White Sox A players strike might be the perfect end to disappointing seasons by both the White Sox and the cross-town Cubs. Said Sox skipper Jerry Manuel: "They'll probably celebrate here in Chicago."
20
19
New York Mets Manager Bobby Valentine nearly burst into tears when someone suggested during their recent 12-game losing streak that he was trying to get fired or wanted to quit. Mets fans, of course, have been crying a lot longer than that.
21
21
Texas Rangers When reliever C.J. Nitkowski was called up last week, he became the 26th pitcher that Texas has used this season -- a team record. Nine of those have spent time on the DL, while 17 have pitched in the minors.
22
23
Pittsburgh Pirates Not only are Mike Williams’ 37 saves a franchise record, but they also represent 63 percent of the Bucs’ 58 victories -- giving him an outside shot at Bryan Harvey’s 70 percent (45/64) for the Marlins in 1993.
23
25
Toronto Blue Jays Yes, Carlos Delgado is having an off year (21 homers, 78 RBIs, .254). But you think these guys didn’t miss him while he was on the DL? They went just 5-10 -- and that’s after sweeping a Saturday double-header against the O’s.
24
22
Cleveland Indians Starter Danys Baez as a closer? They’re supposedly thinking about it, since elbow surgery will put relief ace Bob Wickman on the shelf through most of next season.
25
24
Chicago Cubs Steve Stone is headed back to the WGN booth. Stone abruptly resigned two years ago to join a group that tried in vain to buy the A’s. "It didn't work out…" he said. "I just want to be a broadcaster and work along with Chip [Caray]. Hopefully, we can do that for 15 years."
26
26
San Diego Padres Yes, owner John Moores is one of the hard-liners. Hearing one of the Padres talk about labor dispute, Moores said, "They do what Donald Fehr tells them to do. They'd be running the bases backward from now on if Donald Fehr asked them to."
27
27
Kansas City Royals How far have they fallen? The Royals are guaranteed their 13th consecutive losing month, equaling a franchise record set from April 1969 through April 1971 -- the first 13 months of their existence.
28
28
Detroit Tigers Comerica Park is supposed to be tough on hitters, but 13 of Randall Simon’s team-high 17 home runs have come in its spacious confines.
29
29
Milwaukee Brewers Perennial minor league standout Izzy Alcantara wore out his welcome in Boston a couple of years back. Now he’s done it in Milwaukee. The Brewers designated Alcantara for assignment one day after he missed a ball that went for a triple -- then chuckled about it on the field with center fielder Alex Sanchez.
30
30
Tampa Bay Devil Rays Their pitching may not be that good, but it is durable. The Rays’ 11 complete games are a team record, tying the Marlins for most in the majors this season.
