Shea Langeliers #23 of the Athletics rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth inning at Sutter Health Park on May 12, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Athletics were back home at Sutter Health Park on Tuesday night to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in game one of a three-game series. The A’s were coming off a solid road trip where they made stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore while going 3-3 in the six road games.

On Tuesday, the Cardinals handled business and defeated the A’s 6-4.

Jeffrey Springs got the ball for the A’s in their return home, and he had a very familiar outing that we have become accustomed to during his time in Sacramento.

Springs, who had pitched fairly well the last couple of years, has found himself in early-game trouble many times during that span. Tuesday was no different for the left-hander.

Springs was roughed up early in the first inning as the Cardinals posted four runs on four hits and a walk to set the tone early and get the A’s on their heels. Springs managed to settle in, but his final line wasn’t pretty. All in, he managed to toss five innings of four-run, seven-hit ball while walking three and striking out five Cardinals hitters.

“The first inning just didn’t look comfortable,” Kotsay said after the game. “And once he got through that first, obviously he dialed in and pitched a great game. So overall … he’s had a good season so far at this point. I think it was one of those things that just he couldn’t get the out when he needed.”

The bullpen pitched well enough for the A’s to get the win, but the A’s weren’t able to capitalize.

Joel Kuhnel came in for the sixth inning and ran into some trouble of his own. Kuhnel pitched two-thirds of an inning and gave up two runs on two hits.

Brooks Kriske came in as the second man out of the pen for the A’s and pitched one and two thirds innings of no-run, one-walk baseball while striking out one. Unfortunately, Kriske was removed in the seventh inning with what Mark Kotsay described as “right shoulder soreness” after the game. Kotsay said he would be reevaluated tomorrow.

Scott Barlow came in to finish off the eighth inning and allowed one hit and nothing else while striking out one in two-thirds of an inning of work.

Mark Leiter Jr. was the final man out of the pen for the A’s. Leiter Jr. tossed a scoreless ninth inning while striking out one hitter in one inning of relief.

On the offensive side of the ball, the A’s put up a fight but weren’t able to complete a comeback.

The scoring for the A’s mostly happened in the second inning, as Nick Kurtz hit an RBI single to get the A’s on the board and bring the score to 4-1. One batter later, Shea Langeliers hit a two-RBI double to bring the A’s to within one as the A’s rallied in support of Jeffrey Springs.

The A’s final scoring came in the eighth when Shea Langeliers blasted the 100th home run of his career. The blast traveled 448 feet and left the bat at 108 mph as it sailed on top of the A’s clubhouse in left field.

“It’s a big milestone, a hundred home runs at this point in his career,” Mark Kotsay said. “You can say that he’s done just a tremendous job to this point of continuing to get better and be an impact-type player.”

The A’s fell to 21-20 on the season as they started the homestand off with the loss to the Cardinals.

The A’s will send J.T. Ginn (1-1, 3.62) to the mound on Wednesday as the Cardinals will counter with Matthew Liberatore (2-1, 4.07) at 6:40 p.m. PT.