The Athletics swept the New York Mets last weekend. Then, they returned home to evenly split a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. Those two clubs are tied atop the top of the AL West standings at 10-9.
Results
FRI: ATH 4, NYM 0
Taking Luis Morales’ spot in the rotation, J. T. Ginn threw four innings of one-hit, shutout baseball, striking out four. That lone hit was a bunt single. Shea Langeliers knocked in Carlos Cortes with an RBI single in the top of the 3rd inning.
With the score still 1-0 entering the 9th, Jeff McNeil picked up an RBI single in his return to Citi Field. Later in the inning, Denzel Clarke played two more with his own RBI single. Elvis Alvarado pitched a scoreless bottom of the 9th to secure the series-opening win.
SAT: ATH 11, NYM 6
After a generally mundane opener on Friday, the offenses exploded for both teams on Saturday. Bo Bichette knocked in a run in the 1st inning on an RBI single. Then, the A’s answered back in a big way. Denzel Clarke drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it in the 2nd before Lawrence Butler grounded into a fielder’s choice to put the visitors ahead, 2-1. In the 3rd, Tyler Soderstrom (2-run) and Carlos Cortes (3-run) hit home runs off of Kodai Senga to extend the lead to 7-1.
The Mets chipped away at the lead across the 5th-7th innings as Bichette, Francisco Alvarez, and Jorge Polanco hit home runs. Combined with a sacrifice fly from Brett Baty, the score was 7-6 at the end of the 7th. But, the A’s blew it back open in the 8th against Luke Weaver. Shea Langeliers had an RBI single and Soderstrom hit another HR (3-run) to make it 11-6. Luis Medina worked a 1-2-3 9th inning in the win.
SUN: ATH 1, NYM 0
Following the combined 17 runs the day before, only one run would score in the series finale. Aaron Civale threw 5.2 shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. Meanwhile, Nick Kurtz took Mets ace Freddy Peralta deep for his first home run of the 2026 season. That was one of only four hits by the A’s.
After Civale departed, Hogan Harris, Scott Barlow, Elvis Alvarado, and Joel Kuhnel allowed zero hits and just one walk over the final 3.1 innings. The win completed the sweep of the Mets and put the Athletics above .500 at 8-7.
MON: TEX 8, ATH 1
The return to Sutter Health Park did not go well for the A’s. Jake Burger hit a three-run home run off of Luis Severino in the 1st inning. He followed that up with a solo homer in the 3rd. Meanwhile, Nathan Eovaldi was cruising through the Athletics lineup, allowing just three singles in seven innings of work.
The Rangers added four runs on five hits in the 8th as Jack Perkins struggled in his second inning in relief. Lawrence Butler prevented the shutout as he hit a solo shot off of Luis Curvelo in the bottom of the 8th.
TUE: ATH 2, TEX 1
Just like in the series opener, Jake Burger put the Rangers on the board in the 1st inning. Burger scored Brandon Nimmo, who led off the game with a double off of Jeffrey Springs. The lefty would only allow one more hit in his outing and no more runs.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Denzel Clarke hit a double before Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz drew walks. Jacob Wilson singled through the left side to score two runs and give the A’s the lead. Clarke helped to maintain that advantage in the 4th when he made a great catch at the wall to rob Andrew McCutchen of at least extra bases. In the 9th, Mark Leiter Jr. retired the side in order to record a save.
WED: ATH 6, TEX 5
The Athletics got the offense going early as Tyler Soderstrom and Denzel Clarke each knocked in a run in the first two innings. But, Corey Seager evened things up at two with a two-run HR off of J. T. Ginn in the 3rd inning. That score remained until the bottom of the 6th. With Lawrence Butler on base, Shea Langeliers took Jalen Beeks DEEP to get the A’s back ahead. His homer measured 467 feet, the longest in the majors so far this season, with a 112 exit velocity off the bat.
Jacob Wilson extended the lead to 6-2 with a two-run homer of his own in the 7th. Mark Leiter Jr. made things interesting in the 8th as he allowed a Jake Burger three-run HR. Joel Kuhnel recorded a four-out save to put the A’s alone atop the AL West standings.
THU: TEX 9, ATH 6
The finale of this four-game series did not lack drama. After the Rangers got up 2-0, RBIs singles from Jacob Wilson and Carlos Cortes in the bottom of the 5th inning put the A’s ahead, 3-2. Josh Smith doubled in the next half inning to tie things up. Josh Jung hit a two-run HR off of Scott Barlow in the 7th to put Texas back ahead.
In the bottom of the 8th, Wyatt Langford lost his battle with the wind and couldn’t corral a bloop fly ball off the bat of Nick Kurtz. That resulted in a 196 ft. bases-clearing, three-run double. Enter Justin Sterner looking to preserve the one-run lead. He allowed two singles to start the inning. Then, he tried to get the lead runner at third after a poor bunt by Kyle Higashioka, but his throw was high and that allowed the runner to score from third. Joc Pederson drilled the go-ahead single into center and Ezequiel Duran added two more insurance runs with a single later in the inning. The A’s could not answer back and dropped the finale, 9-6.
What Else?
- Jeffrey Springs is thriving early on in his second year with the club. After a decent season debut vs. the Blue Jays, he’s gone to another level in April. He’s made three starts (all wins) and has a 0.93 ERA with two runs (on just six hits) allowed and 18 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. Including his opening start, he has a 1.46 ERA and 0.77 WHIP this season. While Luis Severino looks to hit his stride, Springs is emerging as the top dog in the Athletics’ rotation.
- The bullpen roles entering this season for the Athletics were pretty up in the air. Even so, you would’ve needed a crystal ball to predict Joel Kuhnel becoming a high-leverage arm. He spent his time in 2025 in Triple-A with the Phillies and Yankees organizations. He signed a minor league deal with the A’s and was called up to the big leagues when Luis Morales was sent to Las Vegas. In five appearances, he has three saves, zero earned runs, and just one hit allowed in 4.2 innings. It’s impossible to forecast how a bullpen plays out across 162 games, but he’s certainly earning more late-inning opportunities for the time being.
- As expected, Brent Rooker hit the injured list with a right oblique strain. That can be a tricky injury to recover from as they’re so involved in swinging the bat and he could be on the shelf for a good while. Zack Gelof took his place on the roster.
System Spotlight
Tommy White (AA): One of the top bats in the Athletics’ system, White is off to a nice start in 2026. Through 12 games, he has a .986 OPS with 19 hits and 14 RBIs. He spent part of 2025 with Midland and will look to hit his way to Las Vegas.
Mason Barnett (AAA): Speaking of Vegas, the Aviators’ righty is doing a good job of moving beyond a tough 2025 campaign. Barnett finished last season with a 6.13 ERA in 25 appearances. After a bit of a rough outing vs. OKC on 4/4, he was superb on Tuesday at Reno. He threw five innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven.
Bobby Boser (High-A): Picked in the 11th round of last year’s draft, Boser is having a successful start to his first full professional season. He played just over 30 games for Stockton after being drafted and began 2026 with Lansing. He’s slashing .341/.460/.488 through ten games. Defensively, he’s primarily played shortstop with some time also at third base.
What’s Next?
The Athletics welcome the Chicago White Sox to town for a weekend series. Then, they will travel to the Pacific Northwest to face the reigning AL West champions, the Seattle Mariners.
(Jeffrey Springs headshot, courtesy: Athletics)
