The Athletics dropped two out of three at home vs. the Chicago White Sox. Then, they took two out of three on the road vs. the Seattle Mariners.
Results
FRI: CHW 9, ATH 2
In his previous outing, Aaron Civale threw 5.2 shutout innings on the road vs. the Mets. Friday night was a different story for the veteran starter. He allowed five earned runs on 11 hits in 4.2 innings vs. the White Sox. After scoring once in the 1st inning, Chicago picked up two more runs on three hits in the 3rd. Nick Kurtz got the Athletics on the board with an RBI single in the 4th.
The White Sox scored twice in the 5th to end Civale’s night and extend their lead to 5-1. Elvis Alvarado, who relieved Civale partway through the 5th, walked (pun intended) into a disastrous 7th inning. He walked three of the first four batters (though one was getting caught stealing at second). Andrew Benintendi reached on an infield single to load the bases with two outs. Munetaka Murakami took Alvarado deep for a grand slam to put this game to bed. Andy Ibanez picked up an RBI on a groundout in the 8th.
SAT: ATH 7, CHW 6 (11 innings)
After their blowout win on Friday, Chicago kept that momentum going early on Saturday. Colson Montgomery and Andrew Benintendi both hit home runs in the first two innings. The two home runs combined with an RBI single from Reese McGuire had the White Sox up 5-0 entering the bottom of the 2nd. Jacob Wilson hit a solo homer in that frame for the A’s. They would continue to chip away at the lead with RBIs from Jeff McNeil, Tyler Soderstrom, and Lawrence Butler making it 5-4 entering the 7th.
That momentum came to an end as Munetaka Murakami hit a solo home run in the top of the 7th to put the White Sox back up by two. But, the Athletics have a slugger of their own and he did his job in the bottom of the inning. After Shea Langeliers reached on a single, Nick Kurtz hit a game-tying, two-run home run off of Jordan Leasure. With the game still tied in the 11th, Max Muncy scored Wilson on a sacrifice fly to walk it off.
SUN: CHW 7, ATH 4
Jeffrey Springs’ strong start to the season hit a road bump on Sunday as the lefty gave up seven runs on nine hits in five innings. That included four home runs, including Munetaka Murakami going deep for the third game in the series.
Darell Hernáiz hit a solo homer for the A’s in the 2nd inning. Zack Gelof picked up a two-run RBI double in the 7th before scoring himself on a wild pitch. Mason Barnett, called up to replace Elvis Alvarado, made his season debut out of the bullpen in this one.
MON: ATH 6, SEA 4
J. T. Ginn put the Athletics behind early in the series opener in Seattle. He allowed a solo home run to Cal Raleigh and an RBI double to Josh Naylor in the 1st inning. Then, Dominic Canzone hit another solo shot in the 2nd to put the Mariners up 3-0. But, Ginn would settle in (5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 6 K) and the A’s bats would answer.
Carlos Cortes got the visitors on the board with a home run in the 4th. Monday’s designated hitter went 4/5 on the night. Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers both hit solo homers in the 6th to tie the game. The Athletics loaded the bases in the 8th and took the lead on a Max Muncy sacrifice fly. Then, Lawrence Butler’s RBI single plated two more runs to make it 6-3. Joel Kuhnel allowed a run in the 9th but held on for his 4th save.
TUE: ATH 5, SEA 2
The Athletics got on the board first as Tyler Soderstrom doubled home Nick Kurtz in the 1st inning. Seattle answered back against Jacob Lopez in the 3rd as Josh Naylor’s sacrifice fly tied the game. Jeff McNeil and Cal Raleigh each hit solo homers to make it 2-2 entering the 6th. Jacob Wilson’s RBI double put the visitors back in front.
Shea Langeliers hit his eighth home run of the season to extend the lead to 4-2. An RBI single from Wilson in the 9th ended the scoring. After Lopez departed in the 6th (5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 K), Scott Barlow, Hogan Harris, and Jack Perkins allowed just one hit the rest of the way. Perkins struck out two in back-to-back 1-2-3 innings to earn the save.
WED: SEA 5, ATH 4
It was a back-and-forth affair to close out this series in Seattle. The A’s scored two runs on three hits (including that hit into Logan Gilbert’s jersey) in the 1st inning. The Mariners pulled one run back in the bottom of the frame before each team scored once in the 3rd to make it 3-2. Seattle tied things up with a sacrifice fly in the 6th, then took a one-run lead on an RBI groundout in the 7th.
Facing Seattle closer Andres Munoz in the top of the 9th, Nick Kurtz blasted a slider 438 feet to dead-center to tie the game, 4-4. But, Joel Kuhnel allowed four singles in the bottom of the frame, ending with a Josh Naylor walk-off knock to avoid the sweep.
What Else?
- In a good news/bad news situation, I always prefer to get the bad news out of the way first. So, when it comes to pitching splits home vs. away, the Athletics are the worst pitching team in baseball at home. In 10 games at Sutter Health Park, they have a league-worst 6.58 ERA and 1.76 WHIP. But, on the road, they are 5th-best with a 3.35 ERA and tied for 10th-best with a 1.29 WHIP. This isn’t surprising based on the ballpark dimensions. But, it’s still a major factor that the club will be dealing with until they arrive in Las Vegas for good.
- It was only a matter of time before Nick Kurtz moved past a slow start to the season. He’s walked in 13 consecutive games, which has helped his OBP reach .427. In his last seven games, he’s hit three home runs and has an OPS of .792. His metrics look great, too. His average exit velocity and walk % are in the 100th percentile, plus 99th percentile hard hit % and 98th percentile bat speed. It’s a lot of pressure to put on such a young player, but especially with Brent Rooker out, the offense is going to go as Big Amish goes.
- Flying under the radar, Carlos Cortes is off to an excellent start to the 2026 season. While he has just 52 at-bats thus far, he has the following percentiles, according to Baseball Savant: 98th xwOBA, 99th xBA, 97th whiff %, and 100th K%. It would be huge to have another weapon in a potent Athletics’ lineup if the 28-year-old can prove to be a reliable hitter.
- There was some roster maneuvering done this week by the A’s. Mason Barnett was called up to replace Elvis Alvarado on Saturday. He threw two scoreless innings on Sunday before being optioned back to Las Vegas. 28-year-old Brady Basso takes his place in the Athletics’ bullpen. On Wednesday, Denzel Clarke was placed on the 10-day injured list with a bone bruise in his foot and replaced by Colby Thomas. Thomas was slashing .309/.397/.574 with five home runs in Triple-A.
System Spotlight
Jamie Arnold (AA): The A’s first-round pick in 2025, Arnold’s professional career is off to a nice start. He has a 2.55 ERA through four starts (17.2 IP). His last outing was his best thus far as he allowed zero hits with six strikeouts in 4.2 innings on Tuesday.
Wei-En Lin (AA): Another highly-regarded starter for Midland had a great outing this week. The 20-year-old lefty struck out eight over five shutout innings on Sunday. He has 22 K in 16 IP with a 2.25 ERA.
Ali Camarillo (Low-A): Selected in the 12th round of the 2024 MLB Draft, Camarillo played at three levels last season: Rookie, Low-A, and High-A. This season, he’s started out with Stockton in Low-A and is hitting the ball well. Through 17 games, his OPS is 1.011 with three home runs, more than he had in 98 games in 2025.
What’s Next?
The Athletics will face the Texas Rangers on the road before returning home to host the Kansas City Royals.
(Nick Kurtz headshot, courtesy: Athletics)
