San Diego Padres base runner Fernando Tatis (left) is tagged out by Sacramento A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) in the bottom of the fifth inning at Petco Park in San Diego on Fri May 22, 2026 (AP News photo)

Sacramento A’s game wrap:

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento A’s just couldn’t hold the lead and later faltered to the San Diego Padres 7-3 at Petco Park in San Diego on Friday night. In the first inning was one that usually gives the dugout a false sense of ease. Carlos Cortes started it with a single to center, and Nick Kurtz followed by driving a double to center that brought Cortes home and extended his already impressive run of reaching base.

Kurtz entered this matchup carrying a 44-game on-base streak, the fourth longest in Athletics history, and he wasted no time adding another note to that growing file. Shea Langeliers moved him to third with a grounder, and Brent Rooker’s groundout scored him for a quick 2-0 lead.

The Padres answered with less traffic but more force. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a free pass in the bottom half, and after Jeffrey Springs retired Miguel Andujar and Gavin Sheets, Manny Machado turned the game with one swing, sending a two-run homer to left center. Just like that, the Athletics’ early cushion was gone, and the game settled into a tug-of-war between Springs trying to keep the Padres quiet and the A’s trying to rebuild pressure against Walker Buehler.

The Green and Gold had chances, but the small details kept getting expensive. Henry Bolte drew a free pass and Jeff McNeil singled in the second, only for Darell Hernaiz and Cortes to leave both stranded. Kurtz reached again in the third, but the middle of the order could not cash him in. In the fourth, Zack Gelof opened with a double to left, and Bolte followed with a single to center that scored Gelof, giving the A’s a 3-2 lead. Bolte’s speed created the run, but his attempt to take second was cut down by Rodolfo Durán and Xander Bogaerts, trimming a possible larger inning into something much smaller.

Springs did his best to make that lead hold. He got a double play in the third, worked a steady fourth, and handled the sixth with three groundouts. That mattered because Springs had been trying to shake a rough stretch that included four straight losses entering the game, and for much of the night he looked ready to bend the trend back in the right direction.

The problem was that San Diego did not need many openings. Nick Castellanos tied the game in the fifth with a homer to left, and Ramón Laureano gave the Padres the lead in the seventh with another solo shot. Springs allowed only three hits, but all three left the yard, a cruel little baseball math problem with no friendly answer.

The sixth inning may haunt the Athletics more than any other. Bolte and McNeil singled with two outs, Hernaiz loaded the bases with a free pass, and the Padres had to bring in Adrian Morejon to face pinch-hitter Colby Thomas. With the game still tied and one swing able to change everything, Thomas struck out, leaving a bitter taste that continued to squirm on the palate throughout the rest of the game.

San Diego finally broke it open in the eighth. Durán, Tatis, Andujar, and Sheets opened the inning with four straight singles off Jack Perkins, with Sheets bringing home two runs. Machado struck out, but Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly to score Andujar, pushing the Padres ahead 7-3. José Suarez stopped the inning from stretching further by getting Sung-Mun Song to pop out, but the damage had already turned a tense game into a virtual unreachable summit.

The Athletics went quietly in the ninth against Jeremiah Estrada, with McNeil striking out, Lawrence Butler grounding out as a pinch-hitter, and Thomas flying out to center. The final score told one story, but the innings told a fuller one: the A’s started fast, Springs competed, Kurtz kept reaching, Bolte supplied a run, and San Diego’s power plus one late rally made the difference.

For a team that had just won back-to-back extra-inning games and remained in first place in the American League West, this was not a collapse so much as a reminder. In the majors, being close for seven innings only matters if the eighth does not bite you.

Game two Saturday will feature J.T. Ginn (2-2, 2.98 ERA, 44 K) back on the mound after his devastating near no-hitter loss in Anaheim a few nights ago. He’ll face Lucas Giolito (1-0, 5.40 ERA, 3 K), who will be making just his second appearance for San Diego. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.

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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