A's get most-exciting win of season, then beat Pirates

Much to the chagrin of MLB umpires, the fad of pregame "standoffs" between two players on opposing teams has seemingly been growing in recent years. It almost always involves just two actual players, though, and it's hard to remember a standoff ever including a mascot.

With three participants standing aside (plus the Pirates mascot "Pirate Parrot"), Wednesday's showdown was truly unprecedented.

Unfortunately for A's fans, the standoff triumph doesn't count in the actual standings, so they'll have to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers on the road on Friday if they want their first three-game winning streak of the spring.

With the team seemingly destined to lose over 100 games for the second straight year, threatening to break their record for most losses in a season (117 in 1916) and the constant will-they-or-won't-they saga around a possible Las Vegas relocation, fans in Oakland haven't had much to cheer about this season. On Wednesday, they earned their most exciting win of the year and then finished off a brief two-game sweep of the Pirates.