Nick Kurtz #16 of the Athletics hits a two run home run during the bottom of the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Sutter Health Park on September 28, 2025 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Scott Marshall/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO–The Athletics welcomed the Kansas City Royals to Sutter Health Park for the final game of the 2025 season on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the famously not Sacramento Athletics unveiled a new Sacramento gold jersey they will wear in 2026. The Athletics President, Marc Badain, released a statement about the decision for the new jersey.

“It’s been an unforgettable first season in West Sacramento, and this uniform is another way to celebrate the passion we’ve already felt throughout the community.”

On Sunday, the A’s fell in 9-2 fashion to finish off the regular season 76-86.

The A’s elected to go with a bullpen game on Sunday, starting things off with opener Brady Basso. Basso struggled in his one and a third innings of work as he allowed one run on three hits while walking two.

Next out of the bullpen was Tyler Ferguson, who got the last two outs of the second inning without issue.

Elvis Alvarado pitched a scoreless third inning for the A’s as he walked one and struck out two.

Mitch Spence, who proved to be the longman for the A’s on Sunday, pitched the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Spence labored and didn’t have his best stuff as he allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out one Royal hitter.

Michael Kelly came on for the seventh inning and also struggled as he only managed to get one out while allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits.

Osvaldo Bido finished off the seventh inning and also pitched the eighth, giving up two runs on two hits in his one and two thirds innings of work. He also struck out two batters and walked one.

Scott McGough pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the A’s to finish off the season on the defensive side of the field.

The A’s bats struggled all game against the Royals pitching staff. The A’s tallied seven hits and three walks in the game while scoring only two runs.

The A’s two runs came courtesy of Nick Kurtz, who hit his 36th home run of the season to get the A’s on the board in the eighth inning.

Mark Kotsay spoke about the season after the game—specifically, how he felt the team played after their nearly 20 straight loss stretch.

“…the character of the group showed up, mindset changed, and I think you saw a team that fought throughout the rest of the year to try to get back to the .500 mark and we fell short, unfortunately, but I thought we played our best baseball and the show each in the last three months with winning records.”

Kotsay was alluding to the winning records the A’s posted in July, August, and September to close out the season. The A’s were not an easy opponent in the second half and gave plenty of good teams a tough time.

Brent Rooker spoke with the media after the game, saying he was proud of how the team played even after a rough stretch during the middle of the season.

“I think when you look around the room, there’s a ton of guys that kind of established themselves this year as real pieces on a roster that can compete with those teams that made the playoffs and that’s what we’re going to do. I think we performed well, specifically three months of the season, and is pretty indicative of who we are as a team and we’re excited to go back to work this off season and come into spring training with higher expectations than we have.”

Nick Kurtz, who many regard as the next star of MLB, spoke to us on how he reflects on his first season with the A’s.

“I mean, it was awesome. It was fun, it was exciting, kind saw it all. I had personal tough at bats and tough times and we had the really highs also. As a team you also have a little bit of both as well. So I think moving on, we all learned a lot about ourselves and as a unit, what we need to do to come back here next year and get a potential playoff spot and play some October baseball.”

The A’s will open their 2026 season on the road in Toronto as they take on the Blue Jays on March 26th, 2026.