Caption: Langaliers heading to the on deck circle
Image By: The Golden Bay Times Graphics Dept

By Mauricio Segura

Shea Langeliers gave the Sacramento Athletics enough thunder to make a ballpark lean back in its seat, but the Chicago Cubs saved their cruelest work for the final inning and stole away with a 7-6 win Thursday. Sacramento had a five-run lead, a starter rolling, and a chance to finish a three-game sweep that would have been the club’s first ever against Chicago. Instead, the Green and Gold took the series but lost the finale in the kind of game that makes a manager stare at the grass shaking his head a little longer than usual.

For three innings, Shota Imanaga and J.T. Ginn traded zeros, with Ginn doing the better work under traffic. Pete Crow-Armstrong was hit by a pitch and stole second in the first, but Ginn struck out Michael Conforto, Alex Bregman, and Ian Happ to strand the threat. The Cubs got another baserunner in the second on Moisés Ballesteros’ single, but Pedro Ramírez hit into a double play started by Nick Kurtz, and the early trouble dissolved.

Sacramento finally broke through in the fourth when Langeliers launched a fly ball to right center. The play survived an umpire review, giving the A’s a 1-0 lead and giving Langeliers his first blast of the game. Ginn protected it with steady work, retiring the Cubs in order in the fourth and keeping Chicago scoreless through five. He had never faced the Cubs before this start, but he looked plenty comfortable, holding them to one run over six innings while striking out seven.

The sixth inning turned the game from tight to tilted. Alika Williams reached, and Henry Bolte drove him home with a double to center. After Nick Kurtz struck out, Langeliers sent another ball into center field and kept running. By the time the Cubs got the ball back under control, Bolte had scored and Langeliers had completed an inside-the-park homer. Just like that, the Athletics led 4-0, and Langeliers had produced three runs in two swings and a sprint.

Chicago answered when Crow-Armstrong homered to right in the bottom of the sixth, but Sacramento pushed back in the seventh with back-to-back solo shots. Tyler Soderstrom continued his hot stretch with a drive to left center, extending a run in which he had been reaching base almost daily. Jonah Heim followed with a homer to center, and the A’s suddenly had a 6-1 lead. The lineup had not been grinding out singles and waiting for gifts. It was taking big, violent cuts and cashing them in.

But the Cubs did not fade. Bregman doubled to start the bottom of the seventh, and Happ crushed a two-run homer to right against Scott Barlow, trimming the lead to 6-3. Mark Leiter Jr. steadied the eighth for Sacramento, retiring Dansby Swanson, Crow-Armstrong, and Conforto in order, giving the Athletics three outs to protect a three-run lead.

Those three outs turned into a mess. Michael Busch doubled. Happ doubled him home. Nico Hoerner singled, and Heim briefly gave Sacramento life by throwing out Hoerner trying to steal second. But Ballesteros followed with an infield single that scored Happ. Kevin Alcántara ran for Ballesteros, Seiya Suzuki singled, and Luis Medina entered with the game suddenly burning hot. Swanson singled to center, scoring Alcántara and moving Suzuki to third. After defensive indifference put Swanson at second, Crow-Armstrong finished it with a single to right, scoring Suzuki and sending Chicago to a 7-6 win.

The Athletics still left town with the series, but this one had teeth. Langeliers looked like an All-Star catcher swinging like a middle-of-the-order hammer, Bolte supplied a key double, Soderstrom stayed hot, and Heim added muscle of his own. Yet a five-run lead vanished, and that is the part Sacramento will carry into the next stop.

The road trip now shifts to Houston, where Jack Perkins (2-2, 5.46 ERA, 33 K) gets the ball for the Athletics against Peter Lambert (4-4, 3.77 ERA, 43 K), with first pitch set for 5:10 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.

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.