Sacramento A’s pitcher Luis Severino is all fired up after striking out the Texas Rangers Jake Burger in the bottom of the third inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Wed Apr 30, 2025 (AP News photo)

A’s Rooker and Butler Saddle Up Deep In The Heart of Texas for 7-1 win

By Mauricio Segura

For eight innings, the A’s and Rangers were locked in a tense, low-scoring tug of war that hinted at extra innings. But in the ninth, Lawrence Butler slammed the door on that idea, and kicked it right off its hinges.

With one swing, Butler delivered the green and gold a defining moment in their young season, a grand slam to straightaway center field, the exclamation point on a six-run ninth inning that propelled the Athletics to a 7-1 victory over Texas at Globe Life Field.

The late-inning fireworks began modestly enough. Tyler Soderstrom led off with a single and was lifted for pinch-runner Seth Brown. Brent Rooker, quiet for most of the evening, then launched a go-ahead two-run homer, his eighth of the season, to give the A’s a 3-1 lead.

That alone would’ve been a satisfying turn for a team that entered the game averaging just 2.5 runs over its last four contests. But the A’s weren’t finished.

After a Shea Langeliers single and two walks loaded the bases, Butler stepped to the plate with two outs. He fell behind in the count, then crushed a 2-2 pitch to dead center, clearing the wall with authority and igniting a boisterous celebration in the A’s dugout.

Butler’s fifth homer of the year capped a redemptive night for the 23-year-old, who had entered the game 1-for-8 in the series with four strikeouts. The blast also marked the first grand slam of his career.

Until the ninth, both teams had struggled to cash in on scoring chances. Starter Luis Severino battled through six innings, scattering nine hits but limiting the Rangers to just one run. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third and left with the game tied 1-1, thanks in part to crisp defense behind him, especially third baseman Gio Urshela, who snuffed out a Josh Jung chopper with a highlight-worthy play in the fourth.

Severino, who has yet to surrender a home run on the road this season, extended his scoreless streak away from Sutter Health Park to 14 innings. The A’s bullpen, a mixed bag of youth and redemption stories, held the line from there. Justin Sterner, Grant Holman, and Tyler Ferguson combined for three shutout frames, with Ferguson recording the final three outs for his first save of the year.

Jacob Wilson, who entered the night hitting .321, contributed a third-inning RBI bunt single to open the scoring, a rare small-ball spark from a team that ranks among the league’s best in slugging. That early lead was erased by an Adolis García RBI in the fourth, but the Rangers failed to score again despite putting runners on in nearly every inning after.

The victory pushes the Athletics above .500 and continues their trend of tight late-game wins. Four of their last five victories have come by one run or in late-inning surges. While they still rank near the bottom in run differential and defensive miscues, it’s clear they’re not short on the never-give-up attitude.

Next up: left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-3, 6.04 ERA) taking the mound against Rangers righty Tyler Mahle (3-0, 1.14 ERA). If tonight was any preview, the A’s are bringing firepower, even if it takes eight innings to light the fuse.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.