Sacramento A’s Shea Langeliers (23) is on base after hitting a double in the bottom of the seventh inning against the St Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Thu May 14, 2026 (AP News photo)

The Cardinals Turn The Page with a Plot Twist Win 5-4

By Mauricio Segura

WEST SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Athletics had this one in their hands, then watched it wriggle loose in the ninth like a grounder in a cow field. A Thursday afternoon that began with Nick Kurtz continuing his rise and Shea Langeliers adding another big swing to his scorching season ended with St. Louis stealing a 5-4 win after a two out rally flipped the game like a turtle in a typhoon.

Kurtz wasted no time putting the A’s in front. After Jacob Lopez retired St. Louis in order in the top of the first, Kurtz opened the bottom half by launching his seventh home run of the season to center field. It was another marker in a season that keeps making him look less like a young hitter finding his way and more like the heartbeat of the Athletics’ lineup. He entered the day riding the longest reaching base streak in the majors this season, and that first inning blast stretched it again.

For a while, Lopez made the lead feel heavier than one run. He cruised through the first two innings, helped by an overturned ABS challenge that turned José Fermín into a called strikeout to end the second. St. Louis put two runners on in the third and two more in the fourth, but Lopez escaped both times, getting Iván Herrera on a forceout and Yohel Pozo on a line drive to right.

The Cardinals finally cracked through in the fifth when Victor Scott II homered to right, tying the game at 1. Then the sixth became the inning that changed the temperature of the afternoon. Jordan Walker opened it with a homer to right center, Masyn Winn reached on back to back throwing fiascos by Lopez and Jeff McNeil, and Nolan Gorman dropped in a run scoring single to right. Just like that, the Cardinals led 3-1. Justin Sterner entered and prevented the inning from becoming a bigger mess, getting Nathan Church to bounce into an inning ending double play.

The Athletics did not go quietly. Zack Gelof, who had entered the day swinging better after a rough opening stretch, brought the A’s back within one in the seventh with his fifth homer of the season, a drive to left center off Ryne Stanek. That homer felt like the first tug on a loose thread, and St. Louis’ bullpen soon started to unravel.

McNeil took a free pass, Colby Thomas came off the bench and singled to left, and Kurtz followed with a single of his own to load the bases. Then Langeliers delivered the hit the A’s needed most, a ground ball single to center that scored McNeil and Thomas for a 4-3 lead. Langeliers has been one of the hottest hitters in the league, and this was another reminder that his bat has become less of a surprise and more of a weekly problem for opposing pitchers.

The lead survived the eighth thanks to Scott Barlow. Winn doubled with one out, but Barlow got Gorman on a fly ball to center and Alec Burleson on a fly ball to left. In the bottom half, Henry Bolte singled and stole second, adding another small spark after making franchise history the night before as the first Athletics player with a hit, free pass and sacrifice fly in his Major League debut.

But the ninth was cruel. Jack Perkins gave up a leadoff single to Pozo, who was replaced by pinch-runner Thomas Saggese. After Church flew out and Scott lined out, the A’s were one out from closing it. Instead, JJ Wetherholt was hit by a pitch, Herrera singled to left to score Saggese, and Walker doubled to right to bring home Wetherholt for a 5-4 Cardinals lead. Joel Kuhnel entered and stopped the damage, but the game had already turned.

The A’s had one final chance when Kurtz was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the ninth. Riley O’Brien answered with a called strikeout of Langeliers after another overturned ABS challenge, then retired Tyler Soderstrom on a flyout and Brent Rooker on a swinging strikeout. It was a tough finish for the Green and Gold, who had the comeback lined up, the crowd leaning forward, and the middle of the order at the plate. St. Louis simply had the last clean punch.

The San Francisco Giants come to Sacramento Friday for a three day weekend series. Game 1 pairs up Aaron Civalle (4-2 / .2.51 ERA / 33 K), against a yet-to-be-named Giants hurler. First pitch is set for 6:40pm.

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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