Breaking down A's chances of reaching 100 wins for first time since 2002

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With 18 games remaining in the regular season, the A's have a realistic shot to reach 100 wins for the first time in 16 years.

The A's enter Tuesday 87-57, meaning they need to go 13-5 or better to hit the 100-win mark. With a mostly favorable remaining schedule, that is certainly doable.

Oakland opens a three-game series in Baltimore Tuesday night against the 102-loss Orioles. Even the most ardent Baltimore fan would admit an A's sweep is a distinct possibility.

Bob Melvin's club then heads to Tampa Bay for three against the Rays, a team that has played extremely well the second half of the season. Still, the A's will have a good opportunity to take two of three. Just to be conservative, let's say the A's go 4-2 on the road trip, putting them at 91-59.

Oakland returns home next week for three-game series against the Angels and Twins, both well out of contention. If the A's go 5-1 on the homestand, they would get to 96-60 for the season.

The A's close out the schedule on the road with three games in Seattle, followed by three in Anaheim. If Oakland could take two of three from each, they would finish 100-62.

[MLB Power Rankings: A's hold steady]

Of course, there's a reason they actually play the games on the field rather than on paper, and a 13-5 finish is no easy task. But with the way the A's have played the last three months, who would bet against them?

For context, the A's have reached 100 wins just five times since moving to Oakland in 1968. They went 101-60 in 1971, ultimately losing in the ALCS. The 1988 A's won 104 games, still the Oakland record, before losing to Kirk Gibson and the Dodgers in the World Series. Two years later, the Oakland went 103-59 and again reached the World Series.

The most recent 100-win seasons came in 2001 and 2002, with Art Howe at the helm. Despite those incredible regular seasons, Oakland's playoff runs both came to an end in the ALDS.

A 100-win season this year would arguably be the most impressive of all. The A's entered the season with the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball and suffered an almost comical number of injuries to starting pitchers. Yet through it all, the team has just kept finding ways to win.

Even if the A's come up short of 100 wins, the 2018 season will be remembered as a special one. But with 13 more wins, it would go down as one of the greatest regular seasons in Oakland history.

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