Sacramento A’s Henry Bolte warms up before the contest against the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City on Wed Aug 19, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacamento Athletics watched a four-run advantage disappear in one brutal inning as Kansas City rallied for a 9-7 victory at Kaufman Stadium on Wednesday night. Sacramento scored twice in the first and three more in the fifth, while Jeffrey Springs delivered one of his better outings of the season, but the Royals turned the eighth inning into the difference with seven runs against Hayden Juenger and Drew Rom.

Henry Bolte started the game with a single and immediately scored when Jeff McNeil doubled to center. Zack Gelof followed with an RBI single that brought home McNeil, giving the A’s a 2-0 lead before Kansas City starter Seth Lugo recorded an out. Gelof later stole second, but the Athletics could not add another run in the inning.

Springs, making his first major league start since returning from a right hip injury, gave the A’s a strong chance to win. The outing was also the 200th appearance of his career. He entered with an 11-game losing streak, the longest active skid in the majors, but held Kansas City to two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings, with two walks and one strikeout. He allowed only one run through five innings before Vinnie Pasquantino homered in the sixth. Springs left with a 5-2 lead and received a no-decision.

The Athletics built that cushion with a three-run fifth. Donovan Walton and Max Muncy opened the rally with back-to-back singles, and Bolte drove in Walton with another base hit. McNeil followed with an RBI single that scored Muncy, and Gelof brought Bolte home on a force play. Bolte finished 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, while McNeil went 2-for-4 with two RBI. McNeil entered the game batting .380 since the All-Star break, while Bolte had been one of the club’s hottest hitters in August.

The A’s bullpen entered the game with the highest ERA in the majors, and the eighth inning showed why. Maikel Garcia opened with a triple against Juenger and scored on Pasquantino’s single. Salvador Perez then drew a walk, bringing Rom into the game with two runners aboard and nobody out.

Kansas City kept applying pressure. Kyle Isbel singled home Pasquantino, and Isaac Collins followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Perez and tied the game 5-5. Rom then intentionally walked Bobby Witt Jr., loading the bases for John Rave.

Rave delivered the biggest swing of the game, a three-run double to right that scored Tyler Tolbert, Isbel and Witt. Garcia, batting for the second time in the inning, added an RBI single that brought home Rave and pushed the Royals ahead 9-5.

Sacramento still had one final response. With two outs in the ninth, Walton singled and moved to second before Muncy launched a two-run homer to center, trimming the deficit to 9-7. Muncy finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, but Bolte grounded out to end it.

The loss was especially difficult because the A’s had put themselves in position to reward Springs for a strong return. Instead, another late collapse left the starter without a victory and gave Kansas City its third straight win in the series.

The series finale will match Sacramento rookie left-hander Gage Jump (5-7, 4.50 ERA, 85 K) against Kansas City right-hander Randy Dobnak (2-1, 1.73 ERA, 25 K), with first pitch scheduled for 11:10 a.m. Pacific Thursday.

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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