Sacramento A’s Carlos Cortes (2) gives thanks to the Almighty after hitting a top fo the first inning home run against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on Sun May 24, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

The boys from Sactown had spent the first two games of the series staring at chances that slipped away. This time, they did not wait around for permission. Carlos Cortes opened the game by lifting a home run to right center, giving the Green and Gold the surge they had been lacking as of late.

It was one swing, one run, and one early reminder that Cortes has been one of the hottest bats in the lineup, hitting .381 over his previous 23 games and carrying the best batting average in the majors among players with at least 100 plate appearances.The Cortes led A’s got the three run win 5-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

The first inning also gave the Athletics something just as valuable as the lead: a calm defensive start. Fernando Tatis Jr. singled to begin the bottom half, but Miguel Andujar rolled into a smooth 6-4-3 double play started by Alika Williams. Gavin Sheets then took a called third strike, and the A’s were back in the dugout with momentum still in their hands.

They added on in the second with the lower part of the order doing the damage. Zack Gelof drew a walk, and Henry Bolte ripped a double to left to bring him home. Bolte has brought speed, energy, and a little electricity to the lineup since his call-up, and he kept showing why the A’s were willing to give the 22-year-old center fielder meaningful starts so quickly. Williams followed with a single to left that scored Bolte, stretching the lead to 3-0 before the Padres could fully settle in.

Luis Medina worked through early traffic and was helped by his defense before Jacob Lopez took over in the second. Lopez had never faced the Padres before, and his outing became a test of patience. He did not dominate, but he didn’t allow the game to unravel either.

The Padres put runners on, but the A’s kept finding ways to cut off rallies, including a huge relay in the fifth when Tatis doubled to left and Ty France tried to score from first. Tyler Soderstrom fired to Williams, Williams relayed home, and Jonah Heim finished the play at the plate. It was a sequence of baseball reel highlight finesse. “How about that”, I could almost hear Mel Allen say from his heavenly pressbox stool.

The A’s pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fourth without a hit doing the final damage. Heim doubled, Jeff McNeil and Bolte drew walks, and after Michael King’s wild pitch, Heim scored from third. The inning could have been bigger, especially with the bases loaded, but even one run mattered in a series where every missed chance had felt expensive.

San Diego finally broke through in the sixth when Andujar doubled, moved to third, and scored on Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly. Ty France then tightened the game in the seventh with a solo homer to right off Justin Sterner, trimming the lead to 4-2. Suddenly, the finale had the familiar feel of a game ready to test the A’s bullpen again.

The ninth inning gave the Athletics breathing room, and it started with Cortes again. He singled to left, Lawrence Butler pinch-ran, and Nick Kurtz dropped a bunt single toward third. Kurtz had already extended his remarkable on-base streak to 47 games, moving past Rickey Henderson and into third place alone in Athletics history. That is not a footnote anymore. That is franchise royalty territory. Tyler Soderstrom followed with a ground-ball single to right, scoring Butler and giving the A’s a 5-2 lead.

The bottom of the ninth still had some drama. Hogan Harris issued two walks, including one after Jackson Merrill’s challenged plate appearance was overturned. With two on and one out, Scott Barlow was asked to settle the whole thing down. He did exactly that, striking out Nick Castellanos before getting Tatis to fly out to right, where Butler handled the final out.

After dropping the first two games, the Athletics needed more than a decent effort. They needed a response. They got one from Cortes, Bolte, Williams, Soderstrom, Kurtz, and a bullpen that held firm when the Padres tried to make the game uncomfortable. It was tough, timely, and exactly the win a first-place team needs before heading into a crucial series tomorrow in Sacramento.

Speaking of that series, Memorial Day Monday brings a big one to Sacramento, as the A’s open a three-game set against their West Coast rivals and the team currently chasing them in second place, the Seattle Mariners. Aaron Civale gets the opening-night ball for the A’s, bringing a 5-1 record, 3.31 ERA, and 37 strikeouts into the matchup. Seattle will counter with Luis Castillo, who enters at 1-5 with a 6.41 ERA and 47 strikeouts. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. 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.