The Athletics are playing well and the positive vibes are rubbing off on the ball boys.
In the top of the second inning of the A's 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday night at the Coliseum, one of Oakland's ball boys made an incredible diving stop on a foul ball off the bat of second baseman Otto Lopez.
The play by the ball boy earned him a rousing ovation from A's relievers.
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"Wow," A's play-by-play announcer Chris Caray said. "That's the coverage you can count on if you're the A's bullpen."
"Sometimes you got to get dirty," A's analyst Dallas Braden said while watching replays of the stop. "You got to lay out. Haha. That's what I'm talking about."
The ball likely wasn't going to hit any A's pitchers in the bullpen, but the ball boy still made sure to protect one of MLB's best relief corps.
Oakland Athletics
The A's bullpen enters Saturday's game against the Marlins with a 2.47 ERA, second best in MLB behind only the New York Yankees (2.37).
Expectations for the A's were low coming into the 2024 MLB season, but they have exceeded all preseason predictions, boasting a 16-17 record, good for third place in the AL West. They are only 1.5 games behind the division-leading Seattle Mariners.
The A's will attempt to extend their five-game winning streak Saturday when Paul Blackburn takes the mound against the Marlins.
