Sacramento A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) attempts to bare hand the ball and was not called for an error as Wilson’t 114 consecutive errorless streak stays alive against the Texas Rangers at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento on Sun Aug 16, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

WEST SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Athletics were in a 2-2 tie with Texas when Zack Gelof’s single swing turned the game in the A’s favor. With Henry Bolte aboard after his third single of the game, Gelof drove Jakob Junis’ pitch over the wall in right-center for a two-run homer in the seventh, giving the A’s a 4-2 lead they never relinquished. Tommy White added the finishing touch an inning later with the first home run of his Major League career, and the Athletics beat the Rangers 5-2 to take the three-game series Sunday.

All five Athletics runs scored on home runs, but the offense was hardly all-or-nothing. The A’s collected 13 hits, with Bolte going 3-for-5 and Gelof, White, Lawrence Butler and Max Muncy each producing two hits. Butler supplied the first big swing in the second.

After White singled, Butler drove Cody Bradford deep to right for a two-run homer that turned a 1-0 Texas lead into a 2-1 Athletics advantage. It was Butler’s 11th homer of the season and continued a productive stretch after he had already homered in three straight games earlier in the week.

Texas answered in the third. Wyatt Langford drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a wild pitch and reached third on Brandon Nimmo’s single. Jake Burger then grounded into a force play that brought Langford home and tied the game. Burger was responsible for both Rangers runs. He had opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second and finished 3-for-4.

The Athletics had opportunities to move ahead earlier, but their baserunning created some trouble. Bolte was caught stealing in the first, and Gelof was thrown out trying to take third in the third after an Athletics challenge failed to overturn the call. The A’s also left runners at the corners in the fourth. Bradford and the Texas bullpen kept the score even until Gelof finally broke through in the seventh.

That swing carried extra weight for Gelof, who had been reinstated from the injured list less than a week earlier after a right knee laceration sidelined him for a month. He entered the game with two home runs in five starts since returning, then added another at the most important moment of the series. His return has provided a boost for a roster that has spent much of the season dealing with injuries.

Jacob Lopez gave the Athletics exactly what they needed on the mound. The left-hander worked six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six. He settled down after Burger’s homer and the tying run in the third, holding Texas scoreless over his final three innings. Lopez also continued a much better run since returning from Triple-A, where he had posted a 3.16 ERA over his previous seven appearances entering the game.

Luis Medina handled the seventh and struck out two around an Evan Carter double. Elvis Alvarado and Drew Rom combined for a scoreless eighth, and Hogan Harris retired the Rangers in order in the ninth, striking out Cody Freeman and Joc Pederson around an Elias Díaz groundout to finish it.

White’s milestone provided the final exclamation point. The rookie had built his early Major League résumé mostly with singles after being promoted from Triple-A last month. Leading off the eighth, he drove a 2-0 fastball from Peyton Gray 413 feet to center for his first big-league homer. White finished 2-for-4, and the blast gave the Athletics a three-run cushion. MLB reported that 22 of White’s first 24 Major League hits had been singles before his breakthrough homer.

The victory also ended a long home-series drought. The A’s had not won a series in Sacramento since taking two of three from Kansas City in late April and had gone 0-12-1 in their previous 13 series there. They also entered the finale having lost nine consecutive home day games. This time, three home runs, a steady starter and three scoreless bullpen innings were enough to change both streaks.

Next up, the Athletics open a four-game series in Kansas City with Mason Barnett (1-3, 6.16 ERA, 36 K) facing Michael Wacha (5-8, 3.46 ERA, 117 K), with first pitch scheduled Monday for 4:40 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.

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