Sacramento A’s pitcher Jacob Lopez was dealing against the Washington Nationals going seven plus innings allowing three hits, and striking out ten at Nationals Park in DC on Thu Aug 7, 2025 (AP News photo)
Green and Gold Silence the Bats in D.C. with Complete 6-0 Shutout
By Mauricio Segura
The Sacramento Athletics rolled into Nationals Park on Thursday afternoon and left the nation’s capital with a statement win, blanking Washington 6-0 in a game where the A’s pitching staff didn’t just slam the door, they locked it, bolted it, and threw away the key.
From the first pitch, Sacramento looked locked in. Shea Langeliers started the game by lining out sharply to center, but the A’s got their first baserunner when Nick Kurtz drew a walk. However, a quick forceout and a fly to right ended the opening frame without much noise.
Washington’s half of the first wasn’t any better. Jacob Lopez, making the start for the Green and Gold, coaxed three quick outs from CJ Abrams, James Wood, and Paul DeJong.
The second inning is where the A’s offense began to hum. After Darell Hernaiz worked a walk, rookie Colby Thomas announced himself with authority, launching his first career home run deep to center. Just like that, the Athletics were up 2-0.
Luis Urías kept the rally alive with a single, and Max Schuemann followed with a double to right, pushing Urías to third. Langeliers brought him home on a sacrifice fly to center, giving Sacramento a 3-0 cushion before the Nationals could blink.
Lopez kept Washington in check in the bottom of the second, and after an on-field delay, the Nationals went down quietly again. By the time the third inning rolled around, the game already had the feel of one where the A’s pitching staff could take full control.
In the top of the fourth, Hernaiz again sparked the offense, this time ripping a triple down the line into left. Thomas followed with a deep sac fly to score him, making it 4-0. That was all Lopez and company would need, but Sacramento wasn’t done adding insurance.
While the middle innings saw the Nationals occasionally put a man on, Lopez and the bullpen never wavered. Washington hitters were flailing, piling up strikeouts while the Green and Gold defense vacuumed up any hard contact. By the end of the sixth, Lopez’s afternoon had been a masterpiece: efficient, confident, and completely suffocating to the Nats’ offense.
The A’s offense had another spark in the eighth when Tyler Soderstrom decided one long ball on the day wasn’t enough for Sacramento. He crushed his 21st homer of the season to right, extending the lead to 5-0. Darell Hernaiz added a single moments later but was thrown out trying to steal second, a rare blemish in an otherwise crisp A’s attack.
By the ninth, the Green and Gold were ready to put the game to bed. Schuemann led off with his third double of the afternoon, showing off the gap-to-gap pop that’s been quietly steady all year. Langeliers followed with a single to left, and after Kurtz’s groundout plated Schuemann, the score swelled to 6-0. That would be more than enough for relievers Justin Sterner and the defense to close the door without drama.
In the Nationals’ final at-bat, it was more of the same. Hassell, Abrams, and Wood were retired in order, as Sacramento finished off the shutout in a dominant win.
This was the kind of win that can give a team a midseason jolt. The pitching staff combined for a dazzling performance, allowing just five hits and racking up strikeouts like it was batting practice, for the pitchers, that is. Lopez set the tone early, and each reliever kept the zero on the board. The defense was flawless, turning two double plays and making routine outs look even easier than they were.
Offensively, Sacramento didn’t overwhelm with constant traffic on the bases, but they came up big in their moments. Thomas’ first career homer, Soderstrom’s milestone blast, Schuemann’s extra-base hit spree, and the timely sac flies from Langeliers and Thomas all painted a picture of an offense that knew exactly when to strike.
The Nationals, on the other hand, looked out of sync from start to finish. Outside of Hassell’s double and Adams’ lone single, they struggled to mount any meaningful threats. Their lone baserunning gamble backfired in the second inning, and the strikeouts, piled up far too quickly for a team trying to claw back into the game.
It’s off to Baltimore for a three game set which starts on Friday night at Camden Yards. Starting pitchers for Sacramento RHP JT Ginn (3-2 ERA 4.28) for Baltimore RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (8-5 ERA 4.42) first pitch 4:05pm PT.
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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