Sean Burke gets just four outs in loss to Pirates

Walton’s walkoff homer off Eduard Bazardo was his seventh in 226 plate appearances this season. He had four in 214 career plate appearances coming into the year. The A’s figure to keep starting him against righties the rest of the way. They’ll then have a difficult decision about whether to retain the 32-year-old journeyman as a part of their plans for 2027.

Springs struck out only one, but that was good enough, and the A’s again beat the Mariners, though unlike last Saturday, Springs didn’t get the win this time. Springs has a 2.29 ERA in three starts against the Mariners this year and a 6.48 ERA in 24 starts versus everyone else. He is lined up to make his next start Thursday against the Rays.

It would have been interesting to see what the Mariners would have gotten for Kirby at the deadline. Probably more than if they try to move him this winter. The game’s most underachieving starter has given up 12 earned runs in his last three starts and has flopped while facing a decimated A’s offense in back-to-back outings. He seems like a bad play in a road start against the Angels next week.

Bazardo didn’t even get an out before giving up Donovan Walton’s walkoff homer. He only had the 10th with a one-run lead tonight because Andrés Muñoz was unavailable after working the previous two days. Bazardo, who was outstanding last season and for the first three months of this year, has given up three homers and nine runs over 1 2/3 innings in his last four appearances. His ERA has jumped from 2.10 on July 10 to 2.97 on Aug. 29 and 4.04 now.

It says a lot about how bad McNeil was in the first half that he’s hitting .339/.368/.491 in the second half and still has a sub-.700 OPS overall, but the surge should earn him another starting job in 2027. He’ll be a weak play in mixed leagues next week with six games on the road, but he should be a nice option in mixed leagues for the final week of the season with the A’s at home.

The 23-year-old slugger smacked an RBI single in the third inning that gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead that they would never surrender. He then delivered an RBI double in the fifth inning and scored on an RBI double off the bat of Leo Bernal. He also doubled in the seventh inning and was once again driven in by Bernal. With his three-hit attack, Báez is now slashing .261/.313/.580 to go with seven home runs, 18 RBI and two stolen bases in his first 96 plate appearances.

Bernal led off the second inning with a double and scored on a fielder’s choice to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. He then walloped an RBI double in the fifth inning that extended that lead to 6-2. He also tacked on an RBI single in the seventh to cap off the Cardinals’ scoring. The 22-year-old has impressed in his limited action thus far, slashing .325/.386/.525 with a pair of homers and 12 RBI in his first 44 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

The left-hander also issued three free passes in the ballgame while striking out two. All of the damage done against him came on a pair of solo blasts off the bat of Chase Meidroth — one to lead off the game and another to open the third inning. Liberatore got seven swings and misses on 72 offerings on the night, registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll look to get back in the win column as he carries a 5.53 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and a 146/52 K/BB ratio (143 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Giants.

Meidroth got the game started with a bang, crushing Matthew Liberatore’s very first pitch for a 398-foot (103.7-mph EV) leadoff home run. He then led off the third inning with a 391-foot (103.9-mph EV) solo shot that tied the game at 2-2. The 25-year-old infielder is having a solid season at the dish, slashing .269/.345/.402 with 14 homers, 53 RBI and three stolen bases in 591 plate appearances.

Kay walked one and struck out two batters in the ballgame. The Cardinals scratched out a run against him in each of his first three innings of work. The 31-year-old southpaw got just one swing and miss on 67 pitches in the contest, posting an uninspiring CSW of 21 percent. He’ll try to bounce back as he carries a 4.53 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and a 118/51 K/BB ratio (145 innings) into Wednesday’s critical divisional matchup against the Guardians in Cleveland.