Tag: Seattle Mariners

Apr 21 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Athletics right fielder Lawrence Butler (4) steals a base before Seattle Mariners second baseman Cole Young (2) can receive a throw during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
 Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics did not need a wild comeback this time. They built this win piece by piece, and walked out of T-Mobile Park with a 5-2 score over the Mariners Tuesday. Nick Kurtz set the tone right away when he opened the game with a walk, stole second, and came home on Tyler Soderstrom’s line-drive double to right.

Kurtz kept doing what he has been doing so often this season, getting on base and creating pressure before Seattle could settle in. The Mariners answered in the third on Josh Naylor’s sacrifice fly, but the Athletics never looked rattled and kept a steady pressure throughout the entire nine innings.

That calm mattered, especially for Jacob Lopez. He worked 5.1 innings, allowed two runs, and kept the game from tilting after a few traffic-filled moments. He gave up singles, issued a pair of walks in the first, and watched Cal Raleigh tie the game at 2-2 with a solo shot in the fifth, but he never let the inning that ruins everything arrive. Instead of drowning in Seattle trouble, he kept the A’s close enough for their lineup to keep swinging.

The middle innings belonged to Jeff McNeil and Jacob Wilson. McNeil broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth with his first home run of the season, a drive to right-center that gave Sacramento a brief edge. After Raleigh answered in the fifth, the Green and Gold came right back in the sixth against Seattle’s bullpen. Soderstrom ripped his second double of the game, then Wilson punched a run-scoring double to left to make it 3-2. His hit pushed the Athletics back in front for good.

Then came Shea Langeliers going deep, again, because of course he did. Langeliers has been one of the Athletics’ most dangerous hitters, and in the seventh he punished a mistake by driving a solo homer to center. It was a clean, no-doubt kind of swing that sent the ball to the centerfield bleachers.

Suddenly it was 4-2, and Seattle was back to chasing. Carlos Cortes followed with a double, giving the Athletics yet another extra-base hit, and even though they did not cash that one in, the inning still made the point. This lineup was not living on one lucky bounce. McNeil homered. Langeliers homered. Soderstrom doubled twice. Wilson kept finding holes. The Athletics kept making Seattle pitch under stress.

The bullpen finished the job with very little drama. Scott Barlow handled the bridge work after Lopez exited and got four important outs. Hogan Harris stepped in with two men on in the seventh and got Naylor on a grounder to kill the threat.

Then Jack Perkins took the last six outs and never blinked. By the time the ninth inning arrived, the Athletics were ready to put a bow on it. Kurtz singled, Langeliers singled, Cortes moved both runners with a grounder, and after Seattle chose to intentionally walk Soderstrom, Wilson lined a single to center to score Kurtz and stretch the lead to 5-2.

For a team that came into this series carrying momentum and trying to stay near the top of the division, this was a strong kind of win. Not flashy. Not chaotic. Just good baseball. The Athletics got on base early, hit for power in the middle, played clean defense, and got the exact outs they needed from the mound. Seattle tied it twice, but the Athletics answered every time and then shut the door like a veteran team that had no interest in making the night any longer than necessary.

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 shortstop Jacob Wilson (right) jumps for joy in front of A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) after Sacramento defeats the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Field in Seattle on Mon Apr 20, 2026 (AP News photo)

Sacramento A’s podcast Mauricio Segura:

#1 Sacramento A’s Carlos Cortes Nick Kurtz, and Shea Langeliers all stepped up to the plate and hit solo home runs against the Seattle Mariners to come back three runs down at T Mobile Field in Seattle to win it 6-4 on Monday night.

#2 Cortes went four for five, slugging a fourth inning home run as the A’s worked to catch up with the M’s. Do you see Cortes developing into that key hitter in the A’s lineup.

#3 The A’s got back to back home runs from Kurtz and Langeliers and that forced a 3-3 tie and it shows why this team is getting clutch hitting and why their in first place in the AL West.

#4 The A’s Max Muncy in the top of the eighth hit a bases loaded sacrifice fly with no one out and that put the A’s in front and for insurance runs Lawrence Butler hit a two run base hit to put the A’s in front 6-3.

#5 The A’s and M’s continue this AL West Divisional battle Tuesday night at T Mobile starting for Sacramento LHP Jacob Lopez (1-1 ERA 6.38) for Seattle RHP Luis Castillo (0-1 ERA 5.40) first pitch 6:40PM PDT.

Mauricio Segura filled in for Tony Renteria who does the Sacramento A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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 Tyler Soderstrom (21) greets teammate Lawrence Butler (left) after scoring on a Max Muncy sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning at T Mobile Field in Seattle on Mon Apr 20, 2026 (AP News photo)

Sacramento A’s game wrap: Athletics Silence Mariners 6-4 with Back to Back Space Needle Shots

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento A’s got a couple rocket shot home runs to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 Monday night. The Athletics spent the first few innings looking like a team dragging an old problem back onto the field with them. They came into Seattle having scored just one first-inning run all season, and T-Mobile Park wasted no time reminding them how ugly that trend can look.

Cal Raleigh launched a first-inning homer to left-center, Julio Rodríguez swiped second after a single, and Josh Naylor lined a run-scoring double to right to put the Mariners up 2-0 before the A’s had much of a chance to breathe. When Dominic Canzone opened the second with a home run to right-center, Seattle had a 3-0 lead, Emerson Hancock was in rhythm, and the game had the feel of one that could drift away in a hurry.

Instead, the Green and Gold hung around and flipped the game like a Sunday morning flap jack.

J.T. Ginn did not have a smooth beginning, but he did something that matters just as much on nights like this: he stopped the bleeding. After the Mariners tagged him for three early runs, the right-hander settled himself and gave the Athletics room to fight back. He worked around a double by Naylor in the third, stranded Canzone at third in the fourth, and rolled through a clean fifth before striking out Randy Arozarena to begin the sixth. It was not dominance, but it was toughness, and those are not the same thing. Ginn kept the game from turning into a Seattle parade.

The Athletics lineup, meanwhile, took a while to find the right wrench to unlock Hancock. Carlos Cortes finally cracked the silence in the fourth, driving a solo homer to right to cut the deficit to 3-1. It was a needed jolt for an offense that had spent the first three innings getting very little done besides a first-inning single from Cortes and a second-inning knock from Jacob Wilson. Even when the Athletics did scratch out a bit of traffic, Seattle had an answer. Hancock erased Lawrence Butler with a pickoff at second in the fifth after Butler had singled and stolen a base, which felt like the sort of play that can bury a rally and a mood all at once.

In the sixth, the whole game changed on back-to-back swings resulting in the A’s once again taking the top spot on the AL West Standings.

Nick Kurtz led off the inning by hammering a game-changing homer to center. One batter later, Shea Langeliers followed him with another shot to center, and just like that a 3-0 Seattle lead had vanished into the Northwest night.

Baseball can spend five innings pretending it is a quiet, methodical game, and then in two pitches it turns into fireworks. Kurtz’s blast fit the shape of the player he has been all month. He came into the night on a ten-game walk streak and with the most walks in the majors, and he added to the pressure all evening, later drawing another free pass in the seventh. Langeliers, whose bat has been one of the Athletics’ most reliable weapons dating back to last season’s second half, did what dangerous hitters do when a pitcher leaves even a little room for error. He punished it.

From there, the game became a bullpen and timing contest, and the Athletics finally won both. Hogan Harris, who entered the night with a spotless road ERA, took over after Ginn and handled the middle innings with authority. He struck out Rob Refsnyder to end the sixth, blew through the seventh, and helped hand the late innings to Mark Leiter Jr. with the game still tied. Leiter then walked a tightrope in the eighth after Rodríguez and Naylor put pressure on the defense, but he struck out Arozarena and got Refsnyder to fly out, preserving a lead that had only just been built.

That lead arrived in the top of the eighth, and it arrived with force. Tyler Soderstrom started the inning by ripping a double to left. Wilson followed with a single to right, continuing his strong work against Seattle, and Jeff McNeil worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

Max Muncy lifted a sacrifice fly to right to bring home Soderstrom and push the Athletics in front 4-3. That alone would have been enough to change the inning. Butler made sure it became something bigger. He shot a sharp single to right, scoring both Wilson and McNeil, and the Athletics suddenly had the kind of breathing room that had looked impossible two innings earlier. Butler later got picked off again, which was not exactly a textbook night on the bases, but by then the damage he had done with the bat was the bigger story.

Seattle made one last push in the ninth when Cole Young singled and Leo Rivas doubled him home, trimming the lead to 6-4. But Joel Kuhnel closed the door from there, getting J.P. Crawford to pop out and Raleigh to fly out to right to end it.

That final out wrapped up a win that felt bigger than one April game. The Athletics came in off a shaky homestand, facing a Mariners club that has given them headaches for years, and spent the first two innings looking ready to add one more to the pile. Instead, they answered with poise, power, and one loud eighth inning that turned a flat night into a sharp one.

The A’s and M’s continue this AL West Divisional battle Tuesday night at T Mobile starting for Sacramento LHP Jacob Lopez (1-1 ERA 6.38) for Seattle RHP Luis Castillo (0-1 ERA 5.40) first pitch 6:40PM 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.