Luis Urias after his solo shot in the second innings of Saturday’s matinee affair.

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO — Yesterday, it was Jasson Dominguez launching homers out of Sutter Health Park. On Friday, Dominguez hit three home runs, including a grand slam, to lift the Yankees over the A’s.

In Saturday’s matinee affair, it was Aaron Judge and the A’s who left the yard, as the Sacramento wind was blowing strong out to right-center field. Judge hit two mammoth shots, but the A’s answered with three homers of their own en route to an 11-7 victory. 

The A’s and Yankees combined for six home runs on Saturday afternoon. 

A’s starter JP Sears delivered another solid outing as he continues to solidify himself as the A’s best starter. Sears gave up one run on four hits while striking out four and walking one over five innings. His only blemish was a solo homer by Judge in the fourth inning, and he left the game with a 4-1 lead.

The A’s offense backed Sears early with a solo homer from Luis Urías in the second inning and a Brent Rooker three-run shot in the third, putting the A’s firmly in control.

The Yankees responded with a big sixth inning, scoring five runs behind home runs from Judge and Oswaldo Cabrera to take a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.

But the A’s weren’t done. In the seventh, Shai Langeliers launched a three-run homer to straightaway center field, a 418-foot blast aided by the delta breeze, to put Sacramento back in front. The A’s never looked back, adding four more runs in the eighth on a two-RBI single from Tyler Soderstrom and a two-RBI double from Shea Langeliers.

Mason Miller came on in the eighth to record the final two outs, then finished the game in the ninth, allowing one run but securing the save as the A’s defeated the Yankees 11-7.

The A’s bullpen, aside from Miller, was a mixed bag in the win. Justin Sterner relieved Sears in the sixth and struggled, giving up five runs on three hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Grant Holman and Tyler Ferguson stabilized things, combining for 1.2 scoreless innings before Miller took over.

A’s reliever Grant Holman (4-0, 0.82 ERA) got the win on Saturday as Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz (1-1, 2.66 ERA) was tagged for the loss. Mason Miller locked down the save (11th save of the season).  The A’s improved to 21-19 as the Yankees fell to 22-17 in the 2025 campaign.

In the rubber game of the series on Sunday, slated for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch, the A’s will send Luis Severino (1-3, 3.62 ERA) to the hill. As of this writing, the Yankees have yet to announce a starting pitcher.

Note of the day: Jacob Wilson continues to put it all together for the A’s and Manager Mark Kotsay.

“With young players you try and manage the emotions, you try to manage the peaks and valleys as best you can, and right now Jacob is swinging the bat exceptionally well. He is showing the ability to work counts and get on base with a walk, so he’s doing everything you want him to do from the leadoff spot.”

Since being elevated to the leadoff spot on Friday, Wilson is 3-for-8 with a walk. He’s currently slashing an impressive .358 average with only eight strikeouts and a 1.1 WAR this season. His .358 average ranks second in MLB, trailing only Aaron Judge’s .396.