Clear and "Crisp" A's keep their cool

The Shut Up the Critics Tour of '12 took another step toward a final and satisfying resolution Friday for the A's. The 8-2 win over Seattle back home in Oakland after surviving 17 road games in 20 reduced the magic number for clinching at least a wild card berth to four.

That said, when you're an A's fan you understand until there is a dogpile on the O.Co infield, the skeptics won't have rested until they can finally say they knew the A's would fall apart. It's just the way it works in Oakland. Of course, those pesky Angels won again (and think about ludicrous it is to call pesky a free-spending team that signed Albert Pujols to a ridiculously long contract, threw big money at C.J. Wilson, traded for frontline starting pitcher Zack Greinke at the deadline and boasts among other sexy names one Mike the best player in the solar system Trout). So the A's ensured they would maintain a margin for error for their closest pursuers.

Maybe that's been what the A's have needed all along: The pressure on themselves to stay hungry. Pressure and this young bunch of Bernie-dancing, pie-throwing, walk-off-winning misfits don't seem to be parallel universes. But you get the feeling the A's are so loose off the field, they want to have to earn their way into the playoffs and not cruise into the postseason like the Giants, who took command of their fading N.L. West opponents about a month ago and are simply biding their time until the National League Division Series. Not that Oakland fans wouldn't want their team to be able to have it that easy, but the A's players seem to be loving this idea of treating every game like No. 162.

The latest "The A's will fold now" stretch was that 10-game roadie to Detroit, New York and Texas that wasn't the popping of the green and gold dirigible. They still have to be careful that the Angels don't run the table the rest of the way and the A's stumble a bit, but there's no reason for this team to not get to that finish line it's worked so hard to and had so much fun to reach.

One more reason to feel good about Friday's game: Coco Crisp. He missed most of the road trip with pinkeye, and his first start in about 10 days was a memorable one. He channeled his inner Rickey Henderson leading off the game with a solo homer and added two more hits and two more runs scored. The A's have overcome losing Brandon Inge, Bartolo Colon, Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson, but they need Crisp to not only provide speed and some pop at the top of the lineup, but the A's need their few veterans like Crisp and Jonny Gomes to lead what is mostly an absurdly inexperienced group given the battle-tested Angels and Rays lurking behind them in the wild card standings.