Tag: Philadelphia Phillies

Sacramento A’s Jacob Wilson (5) celebrates his two run home run off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter. A’s Carlos Cortes (26) congratulates Wilson at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Thu May 7, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics turned Citizens Bank Park on its side Thursday night, leaving the Phillies completely dumbfounded. After losing the first two games of the series and dropping four of their last five overall, the A’s were trying to avoid a sweep in a city where the franchise carries more history than most road trips. By the end of the first inning, they had already changed the entire mood of the night. By the final out, they had turned it into the 12-1 statement they had been eager to make in the two games before.

Nick Kurtz set the tone immediately by working a walk to open the game, continuing his excellent habit of refusing to disappear from the bases. Then Shea Langeliers, freshly back from the paternity list after the birth of his son Owen, stepped in and delivered the kind of swing that makes a dugout wake up in a hurry.

Langeliers drove his 11th home run of the season to left-center, giving the Athletics a 2-0 lead before Philadelphia starter Andrew Painter had recorded an out. Tyler Soderstrom followed with another walk, and Brent Rooker made Painter pay again, sending his fourth homer of the season to left. Just like that, it was 4-0, and the Phillies were chasing the game before many fans had settled into their seats.

The Green and Gold did not stop there. In the third, Soderstrom walked again, moved up on Rooker’s deep flyout, and scored when Carlos Cortes punched a single into center. Cortes, who has been one of the club’s hottest bats, became part of another rally moments later when Jacob Wilson launched his third home run of the season to left.

Wilson’s two-run shot stretched the lead to 7-0 and kept his strong offensive stretch rolling. For a player already known for steady contact and sharp defense, it was another reminder that his bat can do more than just spray singles around the yard.

While the lineup was busy turning the night into a batting clinic, J.T. Ginn gave the Athletics exactly what they needed on the mound. Making his first career appearance against Philadelphia, Ginn carved through the Phillies with calm efficiency. He struck out Trea Turner to open the bottom of the first, retired Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on lineouts, and kept Philadelphia quiet through the early innings.

When Brandon Marsh singled in the second, Bryson Stott quickly erased the threat by grounding into a double play. Ginn also got another spotless frame in the third, retiring Edmundo Sosa, Justin Crawford and Rafael Marchán in order.

Schwarber finally got Philadelphia on the board in the fourth with a line-drive home run to right, his 12th of the season. But even that swing barely dented the night. Ginn walked Harper afterward, then benefited from another quick defensive answer when Adolis García lined into a double play to Jacob Wilson, who flipped the game right back into the A’s control. The Athletics’ defense, already one of the cleanest units in baseball, played like a team determined not to give Philadelphia any extra oxygen.

The A’s kept adding on in the middle innings. In the fourth, Langeliers singled, Soderstrom singled, and Rooker dropped a soft liner that scored Langeliers for an 8-0 lead. In the fifth, Lawrence Butler walked and Zack Gelof ripped a triple to left, bringing Butler home. Kurtz then lined a single to right to score Gelof, pushing the lead to 10-1. The inning showed the depth of the night’s damage: walks, singles, power, pressure, and the kind of traffic that wears out a pitching staff.

Gelof saved his loudest swing for the seventh. After Butler opened the inning with a sharp double to left, Gelof drove his third homer of the season to left-center, giving the Athletics a 12-1 lead. It was a strong night for Gelof, who finished with a triple, a homer and four total bases that mattered. Butler also reached base twice and scored twice, helping turn the lower part of the order into a second wave instead of a soft landing.

The bullpen handled the rest. Ginn worked through eight sharp innings of one-run baseball, allowing only scattered trouble and keeping the Phillies from building anything serious. Brooks Kriske took the ninth and made his A’s debut with plenty of room to breathe. Philadelphia put two runners aboard on singles by Felix Reyes and García, but Marsh grounded out to Kurtz to end it. It was a fitting final play for a night when the Athletics controlled the field, the scoreboard and the pace.

For the A’s, this was more than a lopsided win. It was a correction. Langeliers returned and immediately changed the first inning. Rooker shook loose with a big early swing. Cortes kept hitting. Wilson added power to his contact-heavy game. Gelof delivered the late thump. Ginn gave the pitching staff length and relief. After two frustrating nights in Philadelphia, the Athletics did not sneak out of town. They acknowledged their limitations and left with the series’ most definitive answer.

The A’s now jump on the team bus for a two-hour drive down I-95 to begin a weekend series against Baltimore tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. Eastern, 4:05 p.m. Pacific. Jacob Lopez gets the start for Sacramento, bringing a 2-2 record, 6.60 ERA, and 23 strikeouts. Baltimore counters with Kyle Bradish, who enters at 1-4 with a 5.03 ERA and 35 strikeouts.

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. 

Philadelphia Phillies Edmundo Sosa is out at second base as Sacramento A’s second baseman Jeff McNeil tries to complete the double play in the bottom of the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Wed May 6, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

Sacramento A’s couldn’t hold off the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank in Philadelphia as the Phillies down 3-2 rallied in the eighth inning scoring four runs to come away with a 6-3 win.

For seven innings, the Athletics looked like they would rinse away the sour taste of Tuesday’s 9-1 thumping and remind everyone why they were still sitting on top of the American League West. They entered Wednesday night 18-17, still holding a season-high tying two-game lead in the division despite losing three of their previous four, and they had spent the last ten days alone in first place.

That made this game feel like more than a random early-May interleague stop. It felt like a test of whether the Green and Gold could steady themselves and continue the momentum they ran with in April.

For most of the night, they did. Jeffrey Springs gave the A’s exactly the kind of road start they needed, working around early traffic while keeping Philadelphia’s lineup from landing the big punch. Kyle Schwarber doubled in the first, and the Phillies put two aboard in the second, but Springs kept the scoreboard clean. He got Alec Bohm to fly out and Felix Reyes to bounce into a forceout, then followed with a tidy third inning. For a pitcher who had allowed six home runs over his previous three starts after giving up none in his first four, this was a needed return to control.

The A’s scratched first in the third. Lawrence Butler opened the inning with a walk, moved to second on Nick Kurtz’s groundout, and scored when Jacob Wilson served a fly-ball single to right. Wilson then stole second, continuing to look like one of the steadiest bats in the order. His hit also extended his hitting streak to 10 games, another small but meaningful sign that his early-season wobble has turned into a real rhythm.

Springs kept protecting the 1-0 lead, and he even flashed some craft in the fourth by picking off J.T. Realmuto after Realmuto’s second single of the game. In the fifth, the A’s added another run with two outs. Zack Gelof lined a double to left, and Kurtz followed by ripping a sharp single to right, bringing Gelof home for a 2-0 lead. Kurtz was not done either.

Entering the night with the longest reaching-base streak in the majors this season, he pushed it to 30 games by reaching multiple times. That tied him with Matt Chapman’s 30-game run from 2018, the longest such streak by an Athletic in recent memory.

Philadelphia finally cracked Springs in the fifth. Brandon Marsh opened the inning with a triple to center and scored on Reyes’ groundout, cutting the A’s lead to 2-1. Springs still finished the frame by getting Schwarber called out on strikes after a confirmed ABS challenge, keeping the momentum from fully turning.

Then Tyler Soderstrom gave the A’s a little breathing room in the sixth. He jumped on Zack Wheeler and lifted a solo homer to left, his fifth of the season, pushing the lead to 3-1. At that point, the game had a clean shape for Sacramento. Springs was battling, the offense had produced just enough, and the bullpen had a two-run lead to guard.

But this is when baseball proved that baseball is never really predictable or reliable, and one can never let his guard down or get comfortable they have the game in the bag.

The Phils Adolis García trimmed the A’s lead to 3-2 with a solo homer to center in the bottom of the sixth, and Springs exited after Edmundo Sosa followed with a single. Justin Sterner escaped the inning, and Jack Perkins delivered a spotless seventh with two strikeouts, including Bryson Stott on an overturned ABS challenge. The A’s still led by one heading into the eighth.

Then the whole thing unraveled.

Schwarber walked to open the eighth, and Bryce Harper reached on a fielder’s choice that became more dangerous when Jeff McNeil’s throwing error allowed Schwarber to move up. García singled to load the bases with nobody out, and Sosa punished the mistake with a ground-ball single to center that scored Schwarber and Harper, flipping the game to 4-3 Phillies.

Realmuto lined out, but Marsh followed with another single to center to score García. Stott singled to reload the bases, and Justin Crawford’s groundout brought home Sosa. In one messy, grinding inning, Philadelphia turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead.

The A’s made one last push in the ninth against Brad Keller. McNeil singled, Butler walked, and Kurtz drew another walk to load the bases with two outs. Darell Hernaiz pinch-ran for Kurtz, bringing Wilson to the plate as the tying run. But Wilson grounded softly back to Keller, ending the game and leaving the A’s with a 6-3 loss that felt more frustrating than lopsided.

This was not a lifeless defeat. Springs competed. Soderstrom homered. Wilson and Kurtz kept important streaks alive. But the bullpen’s recent danger signs showed up again, and one ugly eighth inning swallowed seven innings of mostly pristine baseball. For a first-place team trying to prove May will not become a repeat of old collapses, this was the kind of loss that does not need drama attached to it. It already came with enough sting.

Starting pitchers for Thursday’s night: For Sacramento RHP JT Ginn (0-1 ERA 4.30) for Philadelphia RHP Andrew Painter (1-3 ERA 5.28) first pitch 3:40pm PDT.

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. 

Sacramento A’s starter Luis Severino pitching to the Philadelphia Phillies in the second inning at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia on Tue May 5, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics arrived in Philadelphia riding atop the American League West, hoping to make a statement. And they did, but not the one they intended.The problem Tuesday night was simple and brutal: Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez never let the Green and Gold get comfortable, and Bryce Harper treated the middle innings like his personal stage as the Phillies knocked out the A’s 9-1 at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark.

For the first two innings, Luis Severino hopped over lava pools but did not fall. Harper singled in the first, Adolis García walked, and Brandon Marsh followed with a single to load the bases with two outs. Severino escaped when J.T. Realmuto flew out to right. In the second, Bryson Stott doubled and Alec Bohm walked, putting two more Phillies in scoring position. Again, Severino found his footing, striking out Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber to keep the game scoreless. It was not pretty, but it was gritty, the kind of early survival act that can swing a game if the offense answers.

The A’s offense, however, stayed mostly silent. Sánchez retired the side in order in the first, second, fourth, and fifth innings, mixing weak contact with strikeouts and never letting the Athletics stack pressure. Their first real chance came in the third when Brett Harris was hit by a pitch and Jacob Wilson singled him to third with two outs, but Brent Rooker lined sharply to center to end the inning. That ball had life, but Justin Crawford had a glove that he uses quite well to put it lightly, and the Phillies kept the door shut.

Harper cracked it open in the bottom of the third. Severino had battled around traffic through two innings, but Harper turned on a pitch and sent it over the wall in right center for his eighth homer of the season, giving Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. Severino settled down after that, working through the fourth and fifth without further damage. He allowed baserunners, including singles by Bohm, Crawford, and Marsh, but the Phillies kept stranding them. For a while, the game still felt close enough for one A’s swing to rewrite it.

That swing never came. In the sixth, Harris walked and Wilson moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt, but Rooker flew out and Nick Kurtz struck out on a foul tip. In the seventh, Colby Thomas and Zack Gelof opened the inning with back-to-back singles, finally giving the Athletics a serious threat. Sánchez responded like a pitcher who smelled the finish line. Tyler Soderstrom struck out, Austin Wynns moved both runners up with a groundout, and Darell Hernaiz struck out swinging to leave two more aboard. That was the moment the night began to tilt hard toward Philadelphia.

The bottom of the seventh turned a close game into a long one. Turner doubled against Mark Leiter Jr., moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on García’s sacrifice fly. Harper walked, Marsh singled, and Realmuto doubled to left, bringing home two more. Tyler Ferguson entered, but Stott greeted him with a two-run homer to right center, and suddenly a 1-0 game had become 6-0. It was the kind of inning that makes every missed chance from earlier feel twice as heavy.

Philadelphia added more in the eighth. Crawford doubled, Turner singled him home, and Harper struck again, launching his second homer of the night, this one to center, scoring Turner and pushing the lead to 9-0. Harper finished as the loudest bat in the ballpark, with two home runs, three runs scored, and three RBI, while Turner, Marsh, Realmuto, and Stott helped turn the Phillies lineup into a steady parade.

The Athletics avoided the shutout in the ninth against Jhoan Duran. Kurtz singled, Gelof walked, Soderstrom walked after a confirmed challenge, and Hernaiz drew a bases-loaded walk to score Thomas. But Wynns and Harris both struck out, leaving the final at 9-1. For the A’s, it was a night of missed chances, quiet bats, and one bullpen inning that got away fast. For Philadelphia, it was Sánchez setting the tone and Harper making sure everyone remembered the melody.

A’s will try it again Tuesday night at Citizens Bank a 3:40pm PDT first pitch: Starting pitchers for Sacramento LHP Jefferey Springs (3-2 ERA 3.96) for Philadelphia RHP Zack Wheeler (1-0 ERA 2.45)

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.