Athletics vs Rangers: Series Preview #5

Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY SportsAfter snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on Saturday afternoon against the Astros, the rain came on Sunday to usher the talented team from Houston out of the Bay Area and allowed the players on the A’s to spend an extra day thinking about what they did wrong throughout the entirety of the shortened two-game series. Rain has the ability to wash away unsightly dirt and filth, the world emerging brighter and crisper the day after the rain moves on, and during their rain-induced-day-off yesterday, the A’s did their best to remove the unsightly grime from their roster. Along with Chad Pinder earning a callback to the MLB due to a Marcus Semien stint on the 10-day DL, the A’s fixed the most glaring holes on their roster by calling up Jaff Decker and Bruce Maxwell. Decker took Mark Canha’s spot on the roster, affording Canha regular playing time in the minor leagues to get his bat going and his legs underneath him in the outfield, and Maxwell is taking the place of a reliever on the roster, giving the A’s a deeper bench and allows Bob Melvin to use a catcher late in the game as a pinch hitter or defensive replacement without worrying about an injury to that catcher with no real backup behind them. Between the roster moves and the day off, the A’s hope their error-filled, lead-losing ways are behind them and clear skies are on the horizon.

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