A's, Giants facing long odds, but how long?

The Giants and A's are longshots to advance, but it can be done. (AP)

Related: Yanks rally in the 9th | Nats rally to 1-0 series lead | Giants in survival mode | Tigers rolling

The A's and Giants are both tasked with coming back from down 0-2 in a best-of-five series. In other words, neither Bay Area team has any margin for error. It goes without saying the odds of a comeback are steep, but history suggests it's not impossible that the A's and Giants will somehow hawk down the Tigers and Reds, respectively.

The best-of-fiver first became a part of MLB in 1969, when American and National League teams were divvied into divisions and the League Championship Series was introduced. The LCS was a best-of-five affair until 1985, when that round was expanded to a best-of-seven format. The best-of-five made a return for the 1995 season, when a third round of play was tacked on to the postseason, and it has been with us ever since.

So that comes to a total of 104 best-of-five postseason series in all of baseball history. A team took a 2-0 lead in 65 of them or 62.5 percent of the time. And what happened in those 65 best-of-five series? Here's how they break down ...

• 41 times the team with the 2-0 lead went on to sweep.
• 17 times the team with the 2-0 lead went on to win the series but didn't sweep.
• Seven times the team down 0-2 came back to win the series.

Of course, this isn't about just the A's and Giants: The Cardinals and Orioles, down 0-1, can consider these numbers a cautionary tale headed into Monday's action.

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