Pittsburgh Pirates Joey Bart circles the bases after hitting a three run bottom of the fifth inning home run against the Sacramento A’s at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Sun Sep 21, 2025 (AP News photo)

Sacramento A’s Silenced in Pittsburgh as Pirates Dominate 11-0

By Mauricio Segura

The A’s had a dismal Saturday afternoon running headfirst into a Pittsburgh Pirates buzzsaw that chewed them up and spit them out in an 11-0 loss. From the very first inning, it was clear this one was not going to go the Green and Gold’s way.

Mitch Spence got the start for Sacramento and had trouble from the jump. After quickly collecting two outs in the bottom of the first, he gave up a single to Bryan Reynolds, walked Spencer Horwitz, and then watched Andrew McCutchen slap an RBI single to right.

Nick Gonzales followed with a double, and suddenly the A’s were in a 2-0 hole. Still manageable, but a negative vibe could be detected at this point as it lowered like a mist over the visiting dugout.

The A’s bats made contact but had nothing to show for it. Lawrence Butler flied out to start the game, but Brent Rooker and Nick Kurtz responded with back-to-back singles, hinting at a rally. Tyler Soderstrom’s strikeout and Jacob Wilson’s routine flyout ended that early threat. That sequence would pretty much sum up the day, squandered chances and little to no pressure on the Pirates’ pitching staff.

Pittsburgh kept adding on. In the second inning, Jared Triolo launched a two-run homer after Nick Yorke reached on a fielder’s choice. That made it 4-0, and the A’s offense continued to look like it had left its bats back in Sacramento.

By the time the fourth inning rolled around, the Pirates put the game on ice. Joey Bart singled, Yorke doubled, and Oneil Cruz ripped a two-run single to right. Another RBI hit from Triolo pushed the score to 7-0, and Spence’s day was done. He was lifted after just 3.2 innings, tagged for seven runs on 10 hits.

Osvaldo Bido tried to steady the ship out of the bullpen, but the Pirates were not slowing down. In the fifth, McCutchen drew a walk, Jack Suwinski doubled, and then Bart struck again, this time with a three-run homer that stretched the lead to 10-0. Bart, who entered the game with just three home runs on the season, looked like an All-Star against Sacramento pitching, finishing with a homer, a double, and three runs scored.

The A’s, on the other hand, went down meekly inning after inning. They scattered a handful of singles, Rooker had two, MacIver chipped in one late, and Schuemann reached in the seventh, but never advanced a runner past second base.

By the eighth, the Pirates tacked on one more for good measure when Jared Triolo doubled and later scored on a groundout. It was insult on top of injury for Sacramento, like waiting in line for a nice five-star restaurant, but having the maître d not let you in because he doesn’t like your new tie.

In total, the Athletics managed seven hits, all singles except for Brett Harris’s eighth-inning double, but not a single one came through in the clutch. They struck out 11 times and left eight runners stranded. Pittsburgh’s pitching staff, led by starter Mike Burrows and relievers Carmen Mlodzinski, Yohan Ramírez, and Dauri Moreta, completely shut down the lineup.

It’s back to Sacramento now for a three-game stint against the Astros beginning Tuesday, then the final three-game weekend series with the Royals. It’s been a fun season for sure.

Starting pitchers for the Astros RHP Cristian Javier (2-3 ERA 4.45) for the A’s LHP Jefferey Springs (10-11 ERA 4.17) first pitch 7:05pm 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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