Texas Rangers centerfielder Michael Helman makes a leaping catch on a fly out by the Sacramento A’s Tyler Soderstrom in the top of the sixth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Wed Jul 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

Kurtz Comes Through but A’s Can’t Close That Lonestar Gap

By Mauricio Segura

In a game that often felt like a pitcher’s duel wrapped in a chess match, the Sacramento Athletics were edged out 2-1 by the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field. Despite flashes of promise and a gutsy rally in the sixth, the Green and Gold couldn’t quite crack the code against a sharp Rangers pitching staff.

Both teams came out swinging, or at least attempting to. The first inning was a quick snapshot of what would become a recurring theme: early contact, solid defense, and outs stacking up like dominoes. The Athletics’ top three, Jacob Wilson, Brent Rooker, and Nick Kurtz, were retired in order, all on fly balls and liners that found gloves instead of grass.

The Rangers, on the other hand, managed a bit of noise thanks to a Corey Seager double, but he was ultimately stranded at third after Marcus Semien’s flyout and an Adolis García strikeout.

By the second inning, it was clear: if anyone wanted to score Wednesday night, they’d have to fight for it. The A’s struck out three times in a row, victims of Patrick Corbin’s sharp control. Corbin, making one of his strongest starts of the season, carved up the Sacramento lineup like a man with a plan.

The breakthrough didn’t come until the bottom of the third, when Corey Seager connected with a pitch and sent it flying over the center field wall. It was Seager’s 15th homer of the season, a solo shot that gave Texas the narrowest of leads. For a while, it looked like that might be all the Rangers needed.

But the sixth inning changed the tone.

Brent Rooker broke through with a two-out single, and Nick Kurtz followed with a line-drive double to right that brought Rooker home, tying the game at 1-1. It was Kurtz’s 15th double of the year, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Shea Langeliers kept things moving with a soft infield single, putting runners on the corners and forcing Texas to pull Corbin in favor of Jon Gray. With a chance to take the lead, the A’s sent up Tyler Soderstrom as a pinch hitter, but his sharp fly ball landed in center fielder Michael Helman’s glove to end the threat.

The Rangers weren’t done. In the bottom of the seventh, a two-out rally sparked by Wyatt Langford’s walk and Jonah Heim’s fly-ball double gave Texas the lead once again. Heim’s shot to short left was just enough to score Langford and give the home team a 2-1 edge.

The Athletics had chances late but couldn’t capitalize. In the eighth, Rooker collected his third hit of the game, but Kurtz struck out to end the frame. And in the ninth, Langeliers gave the A’s a flicker of hope with a leadoff single, but a flyout and two strikeouts, the final one on Gio Urshela, snuffed out the comeback bid.

It was a game that could’ve gone either way, but in this latest chapter of a developing Sacramento season, the story ended with a familiar note: close, but not quite.

A’s open up a four game series on Thursday night at Denkin Park with the Houston Astros. Starter for the A’s RHP Luis Severino (3-11 ERA 5.10) and for the Astros RHP Jason Alexander (1-0 ERA 8.40) first pitch in Houston 5:10pm PT.

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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