Luis Severino #40 of the Athletics pitches against the Texas Rangers in the first inning at Sutter Health Park on April 13, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Mandatory photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Athletics made their triumphant return to Sacramento on Monday night after completing a six-game New York road trip. The A’s made stops in Queens and in the Bronx to face the Yankees and the Mets three games apiece in the frigid New York temperatures. The A’s took two out of three from the Yankees prior to sweeping the Mets to go 5-1 on the trip and improve their record to 8-7 on the season.

The A’s welcomed the Texas Rangers to Sutter Health Park for the beginning of a four-game series on Monday night.

Poor pitching and a lack of offense early doomed the A’s as they fell to the Rangers 8-1 in nine innings.

Luis Severino got the start for the A’s and pitched poorly early on, putting the A’s in an early hole. Severino allowed five of the first six hitters of the game to reach base, including a three-run homer from Jake Burger to put the Rangers up three to nothing in the first inning.

Severino continued to struggle with command and gave up another home run to Burger in the third inning to put the Rangers up 4-0. Severino needed 60 pitches to get through the first three innings, but he calmed down after that and settled in well for the rest of his outing. Severino ended up tossing six innings of four-run, six-hit baseball while walking three and striking out seven.

“I just need to stop walking people,” Severino told the media after his start. “I feel like the first inning, everything happened in the first inning and after that I’m good. I need to be able to handle the first inning. I don’t know why I’m walking people just in the first inning and then after that I’m getting better. I need to figure it out.”

A’s manager Mark Kotsay thought Severino settled in nicely, but the damage done early proved costly.

“He got into the zone with Burger, made a mistake with a fastball over the heart of the plate after walking two guys, which always hurts,” Kotsay said postgame. “We talk about a solo homer, the impact isn’t as big. So for him to settle back in after that first inning and really pitch well, that’s the Sevvy we expect, and I think that’s the one we’re going to see going forward.”

Severino seems more comfortable this season even if the conditions are similar to last season. He has frequently mentioned the lack of a nearby clubhouse as a factor in some of his issues in Sacramento, after which the A’s added a small room this season in between the dugout and the restroom for him to find some mid-start reprieve.

Asked if the room has made it any better for him:

“Yeah, of course. A hundred percent,” Severino said after the game. “You have a little AC machine out there. You get to be there by yourself, you aren’t looking at anybody. So I think that’s helping, being by yourself. [You can] think about what adjustment you can do to go out there and compete.”

Jack Perkins was first out of the bullpen for the A’s in the seventh inning, coming in for Severino. Perkins pitched well in the seventh inning, facing only three batters and striking out two, but trouble found him when he went back out for the eighth inning.

Corey Seager hit a ground-rule double that was close to being caught by Lawrence Butler in right field, and then Perkins struck out Jake Burger. Yet, it was the next at-bat that turned the tide for Perkins. Joc Pederson hit a relatively routine ground ball up the middle to shortstop Jacob Wilson, but Edwin Jimenez did a poor job vacating his spot, and the ball hit him, allowing Pederson to reach and Seager to advance to third base. It proved costly, as Perkins allowed four runs after that and surrendered a total of five hits while walking a batter. He finished with one and two-thirds innings while adding four strikeouts.

After the game, Mark Kotsay voiced his displeasure over that play and a no-call on a check swing that Kyle Higashioka appeared to have offered at.

“Great point [my question about the play] for Perk, he went one, two, three in the first,” Kotsay told me postgame. “One out [when the play happened], we were trying to obviously keep the game at four. He goes out and not only was there bad luck with the ground ball, there was a check swing that Higashioka went on that obviously wasn’t called. Easily, the inning could have gone differently.”

In what was a mostly tough outing for A’s pitchers, Luis Medina shined, allowing nothing but a walk while striking out one in his one and a third innings of work to finish out the game.

“We’re continuing to build him [Medina] up,” Kotsay told me. “This is a kid that we talk about a lot that hasn’t pitched in two years and needs to get out there and touch the mound. I thought for his inning and a third, he did a nice job.”

The A’s bats did little to nothing in the first game home after their East Coast road trip. The A’s tallied only five total hits and one run—a Lawrence Butler solo home run to right field in the eighth inning—and nothing else. Shea Langeliers added two hits in the game to raise his season average to .306 in what has been a hot start for the catcher.

Along with his home run, Lawrence Butler was responsible for some home run robbery in the fifth inning. Corey Seager was Butler’s victim on Monday as he tracked a ball to the short wall in right-center field and brought it back to save Luis Severino from giving up his fifth run of the game.

After the game, Severino was appreciative of Butler’s efforts, albeit in a loss.

“Law made a great play there,” Severino told me after the game. “Now I need to get something nice for him… I need to buy some shoes or something good. But yeah, he did a great play.”

The A’s fell back to .500 on the season at 8-8 with the loss as they prepare to take on the Rangers in game two of the four-game series on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. PST. Jeffrey Springs (2-0, 1.47 ERA) is slated to go for the A’s, while the Rangers will counter with MacKenzie Gore (2-0, 2.76 ERA).

Whether you’re pre-gaming with the Kings or celebrating an A’s win, Cyprus Grille at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena is your downtown go-to.

⚡Craft cocktails? Check.
🔥Game-day bites? Oh yeah.
🏟️Steps from Golden 1 Center? You bet.

Open daily, Cyprus Grille is serving up local flavor with a front-row seat to the action. Stop by before or after the game—or make it your new downtown hangout.

Cyprus Grille—where fans fuel up.

📍Located inside the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena @ 300 J Street

Happy Hour – 4pm-6pm

Show your ticket for additional discounts when dining in.