After two days locked away in their Houston hotel rooms, the A's found their way back to the baseball diamond again. Cleared to do rejoin the real world after a coronavirus positive test emerged from their traveling party, the A's, in groups of 3-to-4, got their workouts in at the Oakland Coliseum Wednesday afternoon.
"What could go wrong actually did," manager Bob Melvin said over a call somewhere in the Coliseum's concourse. "It's something we're going to have to work through and understand. At this point, there's not much we can do about it except just prepare for the next game."
As of now, the A's next game will be Friday against the San Diego Padres to kick off a three-game series. The A's pitching staff will stay in rotation, meaning Jesus Luzardo _ who was scheduled to start Sunday's postponed game _ will start against the surging NL West team.
While the A's approach hellacious September full of doubleheaders ahead with a lead atop the AL West to maintain, Oakland can only look back at the positive test, the team's worst nightmare, with this takeaway:
"Nobody broke protocol, and we've had no positives since," Melvin said. "This was kind of a hit for us, but no one went out and did something than what the CDC or MLB considers protocol."
Here are a few things to consider as the A's embark on the final month of the regular season.
