Adam Melhuse could not hold out any longer. Today, he hit the first home run by an A’s catcher this year. And he just barely missed a second one–in his second at-bat, he hit one off the top of the center field wall for an RBI double. That leaves Jason Kendall as the undisputed Master of His Domain.

At this moment, the A’s are blowing out the Royals for the second straight day, 8-0 in the 4th, heading for a series sweep.

Last night, the A’s moved into a first place tie with the Angels. They also moved four games up on the Yankees in the wild card race. Even if the A’s don’t end up making the playoffs, this is still an amazing accomplishment. IIRC, there was one point this season when the A’s playoff odds had fallen below 1%; now it’s 71.4%.

The bad news: Mark Kotsay’s back looked visibly stiff, and he came out of the game. Thank Beane for Jay Payton.