Sacramento A’s Jonah Heim rips a 444 foot home run in the bottom of the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Charlie Barnes at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento on Wed Jul 1, 2026 (photo by Mauricio Segura-Golden Bay Times)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The A’s sent J.T. Ginn to the hill on Wednesday night in a bid to avoid being swept at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series. While not necessarily a smooth outing, Ginn delivered the win for the A’s in a 7-1 affair over the Dodgers.

Ginn took the ball in what was his 16th start for the green and gold this season while still being the only starting pitcher in the AL to throw a complete game this season. Ginn didn’t have his sharpest stuff, but he battled through six solid innings against the team that drafted him in the first round in 2018. Ginn scattered three hits and five walks while allowing just one run and striking out four Dodgers hitters. Ginn left the game after the sixth inning with the A’s holding a 6-1 advantage.

“You look at JT this year versus last year, that inning, or that game, would’ve easily spiraled from him,” Kotsay said of Ginn after the win. “He was able to get through those walks like we talk about, executing pitches and really navigating a lineup that can be challenging.”

As Kotsay turned to the bullpen in the seventh inning, he called on Luis Medina to pitch both the seventh and eighth innings. Medina was lights out for the first five outs of his two innings of work. However, Medina allowed a two-out double to Max Muncy before walking Kyler Tucker, which led Kotsay to go back to the bullpen.

Kotsay elected to go with Hogan Harris to clean up the eighth inning, and he recorded the final out by way of a strikeout. Harris stayed in to pitch the ninth inning and struck out three hitters while allowing just one single.

On the offensive side of the ball, the A’s had a nice, balanced attack against the Dodgers’ bullpen game after Los Angeles elected to bypass Shohei Ohtani’s scheduled day.

Jonah Heim got the A’s on the board in the second inning with a solo home run to center field. It was Heim’s eighth home run of the season and his 32nd RBI as he sent the ball 444 feet with an exit velocity of 105 mph.

In the fourth inning, the A’s scored two more runs on an RBI groundout from Lawrence Butler and an RBI single from Henry Bolte that scored Joshua Kuroda-Grauer to give the A’s a 3-1 advantage.

In the fifth inning, the A’s offense was back at it as Shea Langeliers led off with a solo blast to left-center field that traveled 433 feet. It was Langeliers’ 20th home run of the season and his fourth consecutive 20-home run season. The booming home run left the bat at 104 mph.

Later in the fifth inning, the A’s added two more runs on a Colby Thomas RBI double and a Jonah Heim RBI single that drove in Thomas in the very next at-bat.

The final run for the A’s came in the bottom of the eighth inning when Alika Williams sent a ball 403 feet over the left-center field wall for a solo home run. It was Williams’ second home run of the season, and it left the bat at 100 mph.

With the win, the A’s improved to 41-46 on the season and salvaged a game against the Dodgers to avoid the sweep. The A’s will spend Thursday’s off day in Sacramento before welcoming the Miami Marlins for a three-game weekend series. The first game of the series is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. PST on Friday as the A’s will send Jack Perkins (2-3, 6.00 ERA) to the hill. The Marlins have yet to announce a starter for the series opener.