The Oakland Athletics were the owners of a historically bad record five games ago, and while it's still atrocious, they have some positive momentum. The A's beat the Brewers Sunday in Milwaukee, 8-6, thanks in part to three home runs and a good start from lefty J.P. Sears.
The win meant the A's swept a three-game series against the Brewers, who were in the first place in the NL Central when the series started. It was the A's first sweep of the season -- hell, it was only their fourth series win of the season. It also meant the A's ran their season-best winning streak to five games. That's their longest winning streak since 2021.
The A's were on pace to go 31-131 this season before the five-game winning streak. Now at 17-50 on the season, they've pushed their pace all the way up to 41-121.
Back-to-back jacks 💥
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) June 11, 2023
Lucky No. 1️⃣3️⃣ for Rooker! pic.twitter.com/ROthvkFp0f
As can be seen, even with that five-game winning streak, they are still on a historically dubious pace. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders are the worst team ever at 20-134, but the worst modern teams were the 1962 Mets (40-120) and 2002 Tigers (43-119).
On the Brewers' end, frankly, that's an embarrassing series. It sounds harsh but there really isn't a way to soften it. They have playoff aspirations and one of the worst teams in MLB history swept them in Milwaukee. At 34-32, the Brewers have fallen one game back of the Pirates for first place in the NL Central.
