Athletics

At the time, it seemed like Soderstrom had hit a meaningful home run. He cut the White Sox’s lead to 4-1 in the top of the seventh and there was a whiff of momentum in the air. Then, the White Sox responded with an eight-run bottom of that inning and the rout was on. Alas, that was Soderstrom’s 14th home run in a first half where he had to battle a couple of injuries.

Civale was bumped from the rotation to both help acquiesce Jacob Lopez’s return and also because of his own struggles lately. Coming in after Lopez retired the first five batters of the game on 12 pitches, Civale had a few easy innings before being hit hard in a four-run fifth. He hasn’t been effective in over a month, doesn’t miss many bats, and should not be considered a serious option in even the deepest of leagues. Pay attention to Lopez’s workload though, as he went from 63 pitches in his first start off the injured list to again, just 12 in this one.

Unfortunately, it sounds like the 23-year-old slugger will be heading to the injured list for this one. It’s unclear when Kurtz suffered the injury, as he exited Wednesday’s game due to illness but returned on Thursday and played the entirety of the game against the Tigers. While no move has been made yet, there’s still time for it to be done before Friday’s game starts. Fantasy managers may want to use an alternative for the weekend if possible. Joey Meneses will start in his place on Friday and could see extended action there if Kurtz winds up on the injured list.

Meneses hit .143/.278/.143 in 18 plate appearances with the Athletics earlier this year, and the Quad-A slugger is hitting .347/.398/.550 in Triple-A Vegas over 327 plate appearances. He’ll give the Athletics a bench bat over the weekend, perhaps spelling Nick Kurtz for a game if Kurtz’s illness lingers.

Gelof cut his knee up pretty bad on a sliding catch last night in Detroit. Gelof had sort of swung between third base, second base, and left field since returning from the IL a few days ago, pushing Jeff McNeil (illness) into a bench role. McNeil will likely be more involved at second base over the weekend, pushing Joshua Kuroda-Grauer to third.

Bolte came to the dish with runners at the corners and one out in the first inning and hit a slow bouncer to first base that the Tigers were unable to turn the double play on, plating Jacob Wilson in the process. The rookie outfielder also made a couple of terrific catches in center field in the contest. At the dish, he’s hitting .274/.354/.363 with three homers, 16 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 193 plate appearances.

Ultimately, Perkins was saddled with three runs on those two hits and a pair of walks in his three innings of work. Working behind an opener, he took over with one out in the second inning and cruised until Jake Rogers tagged him for a solo shot in the third inning. He then gave up a two-run blast to Zach McKinstry before exiting in the fifth. Perkins got five swings and misses on 67 offerings on the evening, posting a CSW of 21 percent. He finishes the first half of the season with an uninspiring 6.87 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and a 72/23 K/BB ratio over 57 2/3 innings in his 24 appearances (six starts).

Gelof made a terrific sliding catch running down the third base line, but slid into the side wall as he did and came up hobbling. He tried to walk it off and remain in the game but ultimately the decision was made to pull him. Gelof will head for further evaluation. Expect the A’s to provide an update on his status after the game.

Kurtz was pulled from Wednesday’s game in the second inning after he threw up in the team’s dugout, which caused his removal. He’s back at first base and batting second for the A’s against Tigers’ left-hander Framber Valdez on Thursday evening in Detroit.

The A’s appear to be easing Soderstrom back into action in his return from the injured list, so he’ll take a seat against Tigers’ southpaw Framber Valdez on Thursday evening in Motown. Nick Kurtz will function as the club’s designated hitter on Thursday while Jonah Heim draws a start at first base and will bat cleanup for the A’s.