Sacramento A’s Zack Gelof slugs a seventh inning home run against the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim Stadium on Tue May 19, 2026 (photo by Mauricio Segura Golden Bay Times and today’s author)

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics needed a response after J.T. Ginn’s almost no-hitter Monday night that turned into a gut-punch loss, and they did not tap the Los Angeles Angels politely on the shoulder. They unloaded in a 14-6 win that felt like a full-team exhale after the kind of defeat that can linger if a club lets it.

Even with the loss pushing them under .500, the Athletics still held first place in the American League West, and their offense made sure the mood did not stay sour for long. A lineup that had been showing signs of life lately did more than wake up. It took over the room, ate the snacks, and left the Angels chasing line drives all over the yard.

For two innings, Reid Detmers looked like he might control the night. Shea Langeliers, Colby Thomas, Brent Rooker, Henry Bolte and Zack Gelof all went down on strikes early, and the Athletics had little to show until the third inning flipped the whole game on its head Jeff McNeil singled to center, Darell Hernaiz followed with a ground-ball single to right, and Nick Kurtz opened the scoring with a base hit that brought McNeil home.

That swing mattered beyond the run, too, because Kurtz entered the game riding one of the longest reaching-base streaks in Athletics history, a 41-game run that had him in rare company with names like Mark McGwire, Jimmie Foxx and Rickey Henderson.

Then the inning turned into a green-and-gold parade. Thomas doubled to right, scoring Hernaiz and Kurtz. Rooker singled in Thomas. Bolte, the young center fielder who recently made his Major League debut after tearing through Triple-A Las Vegas, bounced a ground-rule double down the left-field line.

Gelof followed with a two-run single, and just like that, a scoreless game had become a 6-0 Athletics lead. It was not just a rally. It was a reminder that this lineup can stretch an inning until the other team starts looking for the emergency exit.

The Angels did not disappear quietly. Mike Trout homered to center in the third, then Los Angeles pushed across three more in the fourth after Oswald Peraza singled, Jose Siri doubled, Zach Neto reached, and Trout drew a bases-loaded free pass after a confirmed challenge. Vaughn Grissom followed with a two-run single, cutting the Athletics’ lead to 6-4 and forcing manager Mark Kotsay to go to Justin Sterner. The Angels had turned the game tense, but Sterner ended the inning by getting Jorge Soler to fly out.

From there, the Athletics answered like a team tired of getting shoved around in May. In the sixth, Jonah Heim doubled and Hernaiz reached, setting the table for Langeliers and Kurtz. Langeliers drew the pass that loaded the bases, and Kurtz punched another two-run single to center, scoring Heim and Hernaiz for an 8-4 lead. Kurtz later stole second, just because apparently driving in runs was not enough work for one inning.

Gelof added a solo homer to right center in the seventh, pushing the lead to 9-4. In the eighth, the Athletics turned the game into a rout. McNeil singled, Langeliers reached again, and Kurtz ripped a two-run double to right, giving him five RBIs on the night. Rooker, who has done some of his best career damage against the Angels, followed with a two-run homer to left center. That blast made it 13-4 and continued his long history of punishing Los Angeles pitching.

The Angels scored twice in the eighth on Josh Lowe’s double after Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch and Logan O’Hoppe doubled, but Hogan Harris avoided further trouble by retiring Trout and Grissom. Hernaiz added one more Athletics run in the ninth with a single that scored Gelof, while Joel Kuhnel finished the game by striking out O’Hoppe after an error briefly extended the bottom of the ninth.

The final line told the story loudly enough: 14 runs, big swings from Kurtz, Thomas, Gelof and Rooker, and enough bullpen stability to keep the Angels from turning another lead into a headache. The Athletics did not just win. They answered.

Starting pitchers for Wednesday at the Big A: For Sacramento RHP Aaron Civale (5-1 ERA 2.70) for Los Angeles RHP Jack Kochanowicz (2-3 ERA 4.56) first pitch 6:38pm PDT.

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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🔥Game-day bites? Oh yeah.
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