Luis Severino #40 of the Athletics is taken out of the game by manager Mark Kotsay with an injury in the second inning of their game against the New York Yankees at Sutter Health Park on May 29, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Mandatory Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The A’s had a rough week coming into the Friday night series opener against the New York Yankees.

Prior to their day off on Thursday, the A’s were swept by the division-rival Seattle Mariners. The Mariners swept the A’s in their three-game series, outscoring them 22-4. It was a perfect storm, with the A’s pitching and hitting floundering at the same time.

On Friday, the A’s continued to scuffle as they dropped game one of the three-game series, 8-2.

The A’s were hoping to get back on track behind their most expensive player by far this season, Luis Severino, who is making $25 million. Yet, the 32-year-old veteran could not deliver, as he was pulled after just one inning of work. Severino left the game after giving up four runs on three hits in the first inning while striking out one batter. It was a rough first inning, and he went straight to the pitchers’ room flexing his arm after coming off the field. Luis ended up leaving the field with an Athletics trainer, and the A’s announced shortly afterward that he departed with what they described as “right arm soreness.” Severino threw only 26 pitches.

“Tuesday when he threw his side, I was there for it. Everything looked great,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said of Severino after the game. “He said he felt good. Wednesday felt good. Obviously when you ramp it up and you go into competition, you just don’t know how it’s going to respond. And after the first inning, when he went out to warm up, he just felt like it was still tight. He just couldn’t get loose and we made a decision to just shut him down.”

After the game, Severino spoke with the media about his injury and the specifics of the issue that caused him to leave the game.

“I felt like if I kept throwing, something even worse was gonna happen,” Severino said after the game. “So that’s why I stopped.”

Severino continued and addressed the specific spot where he felt pain during the start, saying, “It’s like, kinda tricep.”

The A’s have stopped short of calling it anything other than arm soreness, but it appears the tricep will be worth watching moving forward.

Severino’s abbreviated start left Mark Kotsay and the A’s bullpen in a tough spot, needing to cover eight innings of the game.

First out of the bullpen for the A’s was Jose Suarez, who tossed the second inning, giving up one run on three hits with one strikeout.

In the third inning, the A’s went with Joel Kuhnel. Kuhnel pitched the third inning and recorded two outs in the fourth inning while allowing two runs on three hits and recording a strikeout. The A’s bullpen couldn’t seem to find any momentum to this point as the game continued to slip away.

Hogan Harris came on to get the final out of the fourth inning and pitched the fifth inning in a scoreless outing. Harris added a strikeout in his appearance while needing only 15 pitches.

Justin Sterner came in next for the A’s and pitched a perfect sixth inning on just 11 pitches.

Scott Barlow came on to pitch the seventh inning for the A’s. Barlow gave up a run on a solo home run to Ben Rice, but other than that worked a solid inning in relief.

In the eighth inning, the A’s turned to veteran Mark Leiter Jr. Leiter Jr. tossed a scoreless inning while allowing one hit and striking out one batter.

In the ninth inning, it was Luis Medina who came on to close out the pitching side of things for the A’s. Medina pitched a scoreless ninth and allowed just a walk, albeit while the defense made an error for the second baserunner of the inning. Medina struck out one of the five Yankees he faced.

All in, the A’s used eight pitchers in a game that wasn’t particularly competitive while surrendering eight runs.

On offense, the A’s picked up right where they left off against the Mariners and struggled mightily to get anything going. The A’s managed eight hits and only two runs in the game while walking only three times. The A’s also hit into two twin killings, as the production wasn’t enough to get much going or sustain many scoring opportunities.

After the game, I asked A’s manager Mark Kotsay about his team’s recent offensive struggles, even while compiling some hits.

“You look at some at-bats tonight, we hit the ball hard,” Kotsay said. “… We’ve definitely squared some balls up and haven’t had any results, but we’re mixing in some unquality at-bats and we need to continue to try to build quality at-bats and get some more momentum going offensively.”

The A’s first run came by way of a Nick Kurtz solo home run in the bottom of the first inning to pull the A’s within three runs at the time. The blast off Kurtz’s bat traveled over the wall in left-center field, leaving his bat at 107 mph and ending its journey 408 feet from home plate. It was Nick’s ninth homer of the year and 38th RBI.

The A’s second run came in the ninth inning on an RBI single from Zack Gelof that scored Brent Rooker from third. It was Gelof’s 18th RBI of the season.

The A’s fell to 27-30 on the year with the loss as the Yankees improved to 35-22.

The A’s and Yankees will engage in game two of the three-game weekend series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. PST. J.T. Ginn (2-3, 3.19 ERA) is scheduled to start for the A’s, while the Yankees will counter with Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.14 ERA).

Whether you’re pre-gaming with the Kings or celebrating an A’s win, Cyprus Grille at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena is your downtown go-to.

⚡Craft cocktails? Check.
🔥Game-day bites? Oh yeah.
🏟️Steps from Golden 1 Center? You bet.

Open daily, Cyprus Grille is serving up local flavor with a front-row seat to the action. Stop by before or after the game—or make it your new downtown hangout.

Cyprus Grille—where fans fuel up.

📍Located inside the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena @ 300 J Street

Happy Hour – 4pm-6pm

Show your ticket for additional discounts when dining in.