Denzel Clarke and Brent Rooker celebrate after the A’s 5-1 win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon. (Photo: NBC Sports/Athletics on X)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO–The A’s and Orioles competed in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon in West Sacramento. After the A’s won game one and the Orioles took game two, the A’s defeated the Orioles 5-1 on Sunday to take the series.

With the win, it marked the A’s first series victory in over a month, their last coming in early May against the Marlins in Florida. Sunday’s performance resembled the wins the A’s were earning earlier in the season.

Jacob Lopez started the game for the A’s and pitched well, albeit without his best command. Lopez turned in four innings of one-run, four-hit baseball before turning it over to Sean Newcomb in the fifth. Newcomb, who can serve as a multi-inning option for the A’s, did just that on Sunday. He tossed three scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out five. The Orioles couldn’t get much going against the A’s two hybrid starters.

In the eighth, the A’s went with Grant Holman, who recorded two outs after giving up a single. Mark Kotsay then turned to T.J. McFarland, who induced a groundout to end the frame and preserve the A’s 4-1 lead. In the ninth, Mason Miller came in and tossed a clean 1-2-3 inning to secure the 5-1 win.

On offense, the A’s collected nine hits, doing most of their damage early. They scored right away in the first inning on a Tyler Soderstrom RBI single that brought home Lawrence Butler. In the second, Jhonny Pereda doubled home another run, Butler added a fielder’s choice RBI, and Jacob Wilson capped the rally with an RBI single to make it a 4-1 ballgame. The A’s offense went quiet until the eighth inning when Max Muncy sent a towering home run onto the clubhouse in left field. The solo shot put the A’s up 5-1 and traveled 431 feet with an exit velocity of 104.7 MPH off the bat of the A’s third baseman.

With the win, the A’s improved to 26-41 on the season and have seemingly put their 1-20 stretch in the rearview mirror.

The A’s now head out on the road to face the Los Angeles Angels on Monday at 6:38 PM PST at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The A’s have yet to announce a starter, while the Angels will send Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 3.23 ERA) to the mound.

The A’s will look for better results against the Angels, who recently swept them at home in May.

Note of the day: Lawrence Butler and Jacob Wilson continue to lead the A’s out of their franchise-worst 1-20 slump. Wilson is now hitting .372 on the season and, as of this writing, is tied with Aaron Judge for the most hits in MLB with 93. Meanwhile, Lawrence Butler is back. After struggling early in the season with plate discipline and consistency, he has resurrected his batting average to .273 and now has nine home runs and 22 doubles. Butler had 24 doubles all of last season and is on pace to surpass that mark with ease.