(L-R) Tommy White #47, Jeff McNeil #22 and Carlos Cortes #26 of the Athletics celebrate McNeil’ walk-off infield single scoring Donovan Walton to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 at Sutter Health Park on September 07, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Mandatory photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
By Jeremiah Salmonson
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The A’s returned home to Sacramento on Labor Day Monday after a successful series up north in Seattle. After losing two of three to the Texas Rangers, the A’s went to Seattle and took three of four from the struggling Mariners to come home with a winning 4-3 trip. Monday, the A’s welcomed our friends from the North, the Toronto Blue Jays, to town for the first of a three-game series at 7:05 p.m. PDT.
The A’s defeated the Blue Jays in a walk-off thriller on Monday night, 6-5, to take the first game of the three-game set.
Jacob Lopez took the ball for the A’s to start Monday’s series opener. Lopez, who has spent time in Triple-A Las Vegas and with the big league club this season, made his 24th appearance of the year and his 21st start for the A’s this season in game one. Lopez pitched lights out, but the seventh inning would soil his otherwise fantastic performance. Lopez tossed six innings of three-hit, one-run baseball, but it was in the seventh inning where he allowed four hits and three runs that did him in. Lopez was pulled after not being able to get an out in the seventh inning with a final line of six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while allowing one walk and striking out one.
Mark Kotsay was happy with Lopez after the game, saying they got “another solid six” from the left-hander.
Lopez was also happy after the game, mostly because the A’s won the game, but also with his first six innings of work.
“We won, so that’s the priority,” Lopez told reporters after the game. “The first six innings were great. Just the seventh inning [I] made some bad pitches, obviously. And I think I just ran out of gas.”
Luis Medina was the first man out of the bullpen for the A’s, coming in for Lopez as he unraveled in the seventh. Medina pitched the seventh inning and two outs of the eighth, allowing no runs, one hit, a walk and two strikeouts in his inning and two-thirds of work.
Mark Kotsay called on Hogan Harris to try to get the four-out save. Harris got the final out of the eighth and pitched the ninth inning, where he ran into trouble. Harris wasn’t able to complete the save as he gave up a game-tying home run to Andrés Giménez in the ninth to tie the game. Harris managed to get out of the rest of the inning, allowing no more runs and finishing his inning and a third of work allowing one run on one hit while walking one and striking out one.
On the offensive side of the ball, the A’s managed to score early and often to get out to an early lead against the Blue Jays. The A’s totaled six runs on six hits while walking four times (three from Henry Bolte) against the Blue Jays pitching staff.
The A’s first run came in the first inning when Zack Gelof hit an RBI ground-rule double over the wall in left field to score Henry Bolte. It was Gelof’s 15th double of the year and his 43rd RBI.
Later that inning, the A’s got their second run of the game when Zack Gelof scored on a caught-stealing throwing error. The third baseman for the Blue Jays made two errors on the play that allowed Gelof to score.
In the third inning, the A’s scored their third and fourth runs of the game. The third run came when Henry Bolte scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Zack Gelof. It allowed the diving Bolte to score before the tag could be applied. Later in that inning, Carlos Cortes singled home Zack Gelof to give the A’s their fourth run of the game and the 39th RBI of the year for Cortes.
In the fifth inning, it was Henry Bolte again, this time doing it all himself as he sent a fly ball over the right-field wall for a solo home run. The home run was Bolte’s ninth of the year and it was his 32nd RBI as the ball traveled 341 feet from home plate.
The A’s final run came in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk off the Blue Jays. Jeff McNeil beat out an infield single to shortstop that scored Donovan Walton from third base to secure the win for the A’s. It was McNeil’s 53rd RBI of the season and his first hit of the game.
With the win, the A’s improved to 58-87 while the Blue Jays fell to 72-73. Hogan Harris got the win (his fourth), while Louis Varland of the Blue Jays got the loss (his fifth).
The A’s will take on the Blue Jays in game two of the series on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. PDT at Sutter Health Park. Jack Perkins (3-10, 6.50 ERA) is scheduled to start for the A’s, while José Soriano (11-7, 3.52 ERA) is set to start for the Jays.
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