The Athletics lost two of three in a windy series vs. the San Francisco Giants. Then, they went to Anaheim and took three of four against the Angels.
Results
FRI: ATH 5, SF 2
Jeff McNeil opened the scoring with an RBI double in the 2nd inning. It would’ve been a two-run double, but Darell Hernaiz was thrown out at home. The Giants answered back with the soft-hitting Luis Arraez tying the game with a home run in the 4th. Harrison Bader added a solo shot of his own the following inning to put San Francisco ahead.
The Athletics took the game over in the bottom of the frame. Nick Kurtz hit a three-run homer to make it 4-2. Henry Bolte singled home Shea Langeliers for another insurance run. The A’s totaled six hits in the inning. In relief of Aaron Civale (5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 K), Joel Kuhnel, Jose Suarez, Luis Medina, and Hogan Harris each pitched one scoreless inning to secure the win.
SAT: SF 6, ATH 4
It was a rough outing for Luis Severino on Saturday night. He gave up five runs on ten hits in six innings of work. He allowed home runs to Casey Schmitt in both the 1st and 5th inning. Willy Adames had a two-run RBI singled sandwiched between those two homers.
Jeff McNeil got the A’s on the board in the bottom of the 5th as he grounded into a fielder’s choice and scored Lawrence Butler from third. Matt Chapman hit an RBI double off of Scott Barlow in the 7th to extend the lead to 6-1. Brent Rooker made things interesting with a three-run HR in the 8th to cut the lead to two. But, the A’s went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th to end any chance of a comeback win.
SUN: SF 10, ATH 1
It was a wild, windy series finale at Sutter Health Park. For the second time this series, Luis Arraez surpassingly went deep for the Giants. His solo home run in the 3rd inning started the scoring. Matt Chapman added an RBI double in the 4th to make it 2-0. Carlos Cortes got the A’s on the board with an RBI double in the 5th. His double went a whopping 150 ft. as Willy Adames & Co. lost the pop fly in the wind and sun. The score would remain 2-1 into the 8th inning.
It was in the top of the 8th that things went off the rails. Harrison Bader got on base to start the inning due to a fielding error by Zack Gelof. After a walk and a single, Rafael Devers plated two runs as he singled to center and Lawrence Butler made a fielding error of his own. A single by Adames chased Luis Medina after he recorded zero outs. The inning continued to unravel as Jose Suarez entered. He allowed a run on an RBI groundout, walked Chapman intentionally, then struck out Drew Gilbert. But, Jung Hoo Lee then reached on an infield single to score another run and Bader made it 10-1 with a wind-aided grand slam. In total, there were six hits, eight runs, and two errors in the inning.
MON: LAA 2, ATH 1
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Monday’s series opener was a special kind of plot twist on the baseball diamond. J. T. Ginn was dealing, continuing an excellent start to the season. Through eight innings, he had not allowed a hit and had ten strikeouts. But, the Athletics were also being shutout by the Angels.
Finally in the top of the 9th inning, the offense came alive. Zack Gelof singled, then stole second base. Lawrence Butler, hitting for Darell Hernaiz, singled and scored Gelof from second. Still with just one out, they loaded the bases. But, Chase Silseth got Nick Kurtz to ground into an inning-ending double play. Ginn returned to the mound for a chance to secure the no-hitter and 1-0 victory. Neither happened. Adam Frazier singled to lead off the inning. Then, Zach Neto hit Ginn’s 105th pitch of the night out of the park for a walk-off, two-run homer.
TUE: ATH 14, LAA 6
After a dramatic, low-scoring 2-1 showdown on Monday, both teams registered double-digit hits and combined for 20 runs on Tuesday. The A’s got things going in the 3rd inning. Nick Kurtz, Colby Thomas, and Brent Rooker had consecutive RBI hits. After a Henry Bolte ground-rule double, Zack Gelof plated both Rooker and Bolte with a single to make it 6-0. Mike Trout answered with a solo HR in the bottom of the frame.
Jacob Lopez ran into more trouble in the 4th as he loaded the bases and walked Trout to allow another run to score. Vaughn Grissom singled home two more runs in the next at-bat, ending Lopez’s day (3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 K). Kurtz responded with a two-run RBI single in the 6th to make it 8-4. Gelof hit a solo home run in the 7th. Kurtz struck again in the 8th with a two-run RBI double and Rooker homered two batters later to extend the lead to nine runs. Josh Lowe hit a pinch-hit RBI double to score a pair in the 8th and Darell Hernaiz added a final run for the A’s with an RBI single in the 9th.
WED: ATH 6, LAA 5 (10 innings)
The hot bats from Tuesday night didn’t cool off in the early innings on Wednesday. Tyler Soderstrom had a two-run RBI single in the top of the 1st inning. Jorge Soler answered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the frame. The A’s retook the lead in the 2nd as Josh Lowe’s error on Carlos Cortes’ single allowed Henry Bolte to score. Jo Adell and Lowe homered in the bottom of the 2nd as Lowe’s two-run shot put the Angels up 5-3. But, things slowed down offensively as no runs were scored after that until the 7th.
Nick Kurtz cut the lead to one with an RBI single. Then, Jeff McNeil took Kirby Yates deep in the 9th to tie things up at 5-5. Scott Barlow pitched a scoreless 9th to send it to extras. Soderstrom singled home Kurtz as Lowe made another error in the outfield fielding the ball. Hogan Harris had some traffic on base, but he kept the Halos off the board to notch his 4th save of the season.
THU: ATH 3, LAA 2 (10 innings)
Nolan Schanuel got the Angels on the board with a two-run home run off of Luis Severino in the 1st inning. Those would be the only two runs the hosts would score in the series finale. Nick Kurtz picked up an RBI single in the 6th and Darell Hernaiz did the same in the 7th to tie the game. Luis Severino gave the A’s seven innings of excellent work, allowing just three hits, walking zero, and striking out ten.
For the second consecutive game, we had bonus baseball at Angel Stadium. In the 10th, Kurtz was intentionally walked before Brent Rooker was hit by a pitch. Tyler Soderstrom grounding into a fielder’s choice loaded the bases with one out. Zack Gelof hit a tailor-made double play ball, but Adam Frazier couldn’t get the ball out smoothly on the transfer, which allowed Gelof to be safe at first (after a replay review) and Kurtz scored from third. Mark Leiter Jr. allowed a single to Jo Adell to start the bottom of the 10th. But, he then struck out Josh Lowe and got Jorge Soler to ground into a game-ending double play.
What Else?
- Nick Kurtz has now reached base in 44 consecutive games. That pushes him up to 3rd in club history in single-season on-base streaks. He leads Major League Baseball with a .438 OBP and is 13th with a .913 OPS.
- Aaron Civale matched his season-high by allowing five earned runs on Wednesday, all coming via three home runs. He’s given up two runs or fewer in seven of his ten starts. If you were confused how he was doing that well, the metrics won’t help clear that confusion at all. The 30-year-old’s Baseball Savant page is sporting a lot of blue (blue is bad). He is in the 10th or lower percentile in fastball velocity, average exit velocity, hard hit %, and groundball %. His whiff rate is in the 11th percentile and his strikeout rate is in the 19th. It’s been a better than expected start to the season, but Wednesday’s type of outing may become more frequent as the season goes along.
- As they DFA’d Michael Stefanic, the A’s replaced him with Alika Williams in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 27-year-old played in 83 MLB games with the Pirates between 2023 and 2024. He was hitting .317 in AAA this season and has a career MiLB .344 OBP. He’s played nearly 300 minor league games at shortstop, which will help in Jacob Wilson’s absence. Williams has appeared in five games for the A’s, all coming off the bench late as a pinch runner or defensive substitution. Fellow new arrival Jose Suarez has thrown just two innings for the Athletics. He allowed two hits in his debut last Friday. Then, he gave up the wind-aided grand slam to Harrison Bader on Sunday and has not pitched again since.
System Spotlight
Gage Jump (Triple-A): The Athletics’ #3 prospect (MLB Pipeline) has thrown back-to-back scoreless outings. After throwing four shutout innings with six strikeouts on 5/14, he struck out nine, walked zero, and allowed just four hits over seven innings on Wednesday. He has 56 Ks in 38 innings this season.
Owen Carapellotti (Low-A): Signed as a free agent last July after finishing his college career at Georgetown, Carapellotti is enjoying a great start to his professional baseball journey. The 22-year-old catcher has seven home runs in 18 games for Stockton. He had back-to-back games with two home runs (5/6 and 5/7) and his OPS is .966 this month.
Jose Ramos (ACL-Rookie): The 19-year-old outfielder has hit the ground running in the Arizona Complex League. Through 12 games, he has three home runs, 14 RBI, and a 1.278 OPS. He’s also added eight steals. He had a .411 OBP in the Dominican Summer League in 2025 and looks like a hitter to watch in the lower minors.
What’s Next?
The Athletics will head down to Petco Park for a weekend series against the San Diego Padres. Then, they welcome the Seattle Mariners to Sacramento.
(Note: No articles for the next two Fridays. Next article will be out on 6/12)
(Aaron Civale headshot, courtesy: Athletics)
