Sacramento A’s starter Jeffery Springs delivers to the Cleveland Guardians line up in the top of the first inning at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento on Fri June 20, 2025 (AP News photo)

Kurtz Power Surge Lifts A’s to Commanding 5-1 Win Over Cleveland

By Mauricio Segura

WEST SACRAMENTO–The green and gold wasted no time lighting up the Sacramento night, riding a thunderous first-inning blast from Nick Kurtz and a sharp outing from Jeffrey Springs to a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Sutter Health Park. In front of a lively Friday crowd, the A’s snapped Cleveland’s rhythm with early offense and crisp defense, stretching their win total to 32 while tightening their grip on a promising homestand.

Kurtz, who came into the night tied for second among MLB rookies in home runs, continued his torrid pace. After Brent Rooker kept the inning alive with a two-out single, Kurtz deposited a Tanner Bibee fastball deep into the left-center night for his tenth homer of the season, giving the A’s a 2-0 lead. It marked Kurtz’s fourth home run in five games and eighth hit in his last 20 at-bats. Even more impressively, five of his homers have come in the seventh inning or later, a league-leading total.

In support of the slugging first baseman, the A’s strung together a mix of timely hitting and Cleveland miscues in the second. Tyler Soderstrom reached on a sharp single, Luis Urías advanced on an error, and another miscue allowed Soderstrom to reach third. Lawrence Butler then punched a single through the right side to score Soderstrom, making it 3-0. Jacob Wilson grounded into a double play to end the threat, but the damage was already done.

Springs, meanwhile, turned in a vintage performance on the mound, continuing a string of strong starts from the Athletics rotation. He pitched six scoreless innings, scattering hits and avoiding damage even when José Ramírez doubled in the fourth. Springs held the Guardians to just one run across his start, extending the rotation’s stretch of holding opponents to two runs or fewer in 11 of the last 12 games. For Springs, it was his third straight outing of at least six innings, showing signs of midseason form after a rocky May.

The A’s tacked on insurance in the seventh and eighth. In the seventh, Denzel Clarke and Butler each singled, then Jacob Wilson laced a line drive to left, scoring Clarke and moving Butler to third. An errant throw by Steven Kwan allowed Wilson to take second. In the eighth, Tyler Soderstrom, who had snapped an 0-for-9 streak earlier, singled again and promptly stole second base. Urías followed with a base hit to center, bringing Soderstrom around for the fifth and final run.

Cleveland finally cracked the scoreboard in the top of the eighth with a solo home run from Angel Martínez, but that was all the visitors could manage. Mason Miller slammed the door in the ninth, overpowering Daniel Schneemann with a strikeout to end it. Miller, who now has 46 strikeouts in just 27.2 innings, notched his 15th save and continued to rank among the elite relievers in strikeout rate.

The Athletics are now 9-6 over their last 15 games and have won six of their last eight, showing resilience after a brutal early season stretch. They have also improved to 17-6 when out-homering their opponent. Despite sitting in fifth place in the AL West, the team’s offense ranks ninth in batting average and sixth in extra-base hits, while the rotation has started to stabilize.

The A’s will look to keep the momentum rolling Saturday night when right-hander Mitch Spence (2-1, 3.50 ERA) takes the hill against Cleveland’s Luis Ortiz (3-8, 4.64 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

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

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