Sacramento A’s Brent Rooker swings for a home run in the top of the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Sat May 9, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics did not waste any time turning Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards into their kind of ballgame winning their third straight ball game and second in a row over the Baltimore Orioles 6-2 Saturday.

Before Baltimore could even settle into the rhythm of Game 2, Nick Kurtz ripped a sharp double to left, Shea Langeliers followed with a line-drive single, and the Green and Gold had a 1-0 lead. It was the kind of first-inning punch that tells a pitcher, a ballpark, and a home crowd that the visitors did not arrive just to politely take their cuts and go home.

Aaron Civale made that early run feel much larger. Baltimore put traffic on him, including a Gunnar Henderson single and an Adley Rutschman double in the first, but Civale kept answering with the calm of a man changing a tire while the car is still rolling.

Zack Gelof helped him escape the first by starting a crisp 5-4-3 double play, and Civale struck out Pete Alonso to end the threat. In the second, after Samuel Basallo singled, Civale struck out Leody Taveras, Dylan Beavers, and Coby Mayo in order, turning a possible Orioles rally into a three-swing warning label.

The biggest swing came in the third. Kurtz walked, Langeliers singled again, and Brent Rooker punished Shane Baz with a three-run homer to right field, his fifth of the season. In one clean crack, a 1-0 game became 4-0, and the Athletics had control. Rooker has enjoyed seeing Baltimore over his career, and this was another reminder that some matchups just seem to fit a hitter’s hands.

Kurtz kept applying pressure in the fifth, opening the inning with his second double of the game, then stealing third. Langeliers brought him home with a sacrifice fly, giving the A’s a 5-0 lead. Kurtz entered the day riding the longest on-base streak in the majors this season, and his afternoon only added to the story of a young hitter who keeps finding ways to matter. The A’s also entered the game alone in first place in the American League West, and performances like this are why that standing no longer feels like a cute early-season typo.

Civale’s line was not spotless, but it was tough. He allowed six hits and three walks over five scoreless innings, striking out six. His biggest escape came in the fifth, when Jeremiah Jackson singled, Henderson doubled, and Taylor Ward walked to load the bases with nobody out. Civale did not blink. He struck out Rutschman, got Alonso to fly to left, then retired Basallo on another fly ball to Tyler Soderstrom. That was the game’s spine.

Baltimore finally scratched back in the eighth against Mark Leiter Jr. Taveras singled, Beavers doubled, and pinch-hitter Colton Cowser lined a two-run single to center to cut the lead to 5-2. For a moment, Camden Yards had a pulse again. But Tyler O’Neill grounded into a forceout, and the inning ended before the Orioles could turn nervous energy into real danger.

The A’s answered in the ninth like a team that understood the value of breathing room. Langeliers walked, Rooker singled, and Colby Thomas, who had entered as a pinch-hitter and stayed in right field, lined a single to center to score Langeliers for a 6-2 lead. Thomas had also singled in the eighth, giving the bench a useful spark at the right time.

Joel Kuhnel handled the ninth with no drama, getting Henderson, Ward, and Rutschman on three straight groundouts. The Athletics finished a clean, sturdy 6-2 win with early offense, clutch defense, a sharp start from Civale, and enough late insurance to keep Baltimore from making the afternoon weird. In a season where the A’s are trying to prove their first-place grip is real, this was not a flashy masterpiece. It was better than that. It was professional, balanced, and convincing.

Game 3 Sunday will have the A’s looking to celebrate Mother’s Day by leaving Baltimore with a series sweep. For the A’s, Luis Severino (2-3 / 4.15 ERA / 43 K) will take the mound against Chris Bassitt (2-2 / 5.91 ERA / 20 K), with first pitch scheduled for 10:35am Pacific.

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.