Athletics

Things could have gone better for Springs, who allowed just three hard-hit balls on the night. The big blow was Josh Jung’s two-run to right-center, and that would have left only 11 of the 30 ballparks. Besides that, Springs gave up four singles and two walks. He dropped to 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA ahead of a start against Cleveland next week.

Carlos Cortes doubled in his place. Muncy was a nice surprise for two weeks, but he’s 4-for-36 with one extra-base hit (a triple) and 16 strikeouts in his last 12 games, leaving him with a .239/.308/.402 line on the season. He’s not assured of remaining a regular at third base.

It appears to be a matchup-specific wrinkle with Langeliers moving up to the leadoff spot to face Rangers southpaw MacKenzie Gore. Nick Kurtz moves into the second spot in the order with Colby Thomas hitting third and Tyler Soderstrom in the cleanup spot. Lefty Carlos Cortes retreats to the bench following Friday’s two-homer effort.

Kurtz walloped a 115.9 mph leadoff homer against Rangers veteran Nathan Eovaldi for a leadoff homer, his second straight contest with a round-tripper, as part of another multi-hit effort. The 23-year-old slugger has gone deep in three of his last four contests and appears to be rounding back into his previously elite form following an excruciatingly slow start to the year. He leads the majors with 28 walks through 25 games.

It’s time to take notice of Cortes. His first inning home run was part of the three-homer onslaught the top of the Athletics’ order greeted Rangers’ starter Nathan Eovaldi with, but his second was more impressive. With two outs in the fifth inning of a 3-1 game after Eovaldi had settled in, Cortes hit a 409 foot moonshot that broke this game open. That blast came on the seventh pitch of that at-bat on a cutter that was about an inch off the inside edge. Cortes still found a way to get around on it and he launched it deep into the right field stands. Through 56 at-bats this season, he has a .339/.403/.625 slash line with more walks than strikeouts and solid underlying power metrics. He’s also hitting third against right-handed pitchers in this talented Athletics lineup. There are all the signs of a true breakout here.

Severino cruised through this one. His offense spotted him a three-run lead before he even took the mound and he was in control throughout. Outside of two doubles by Corey Seager and Josh Jung in the fourth inning, there was only one other instance of a Ranger reaching scoring position off Severino. And that came in the seventh inning when Hogan Harris relieved him and put out the fire. This was Severino’s second time completing six innings in his last three starts and he’ll try to keep that positive momentum rolling in his next start against the Royals.

Civale was pulled with a 3-2 lead after giving up a Josh Naylor single and retiring Randy Arozarena to begin the sixth. Brady Basso was brought in to face the lefty combo of Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone, but Dan Wilson, as he’s demonstrated he would do, pulled both for righties, and Mitch Garver doubled to tie the game. Civale is through five starts with a 3.86 ERA and a 21/7 K/BB in 25 2/3 innings. There’s still nothing here for fantasy leaguers, but the A’s have to be happy with his performance. He’ll take on the Royals next week.

Kuhnel got a double-play ball from J.P. Crawford after a leadoff single, but he just gave up three more singles afterwards, with Josh Naylor’s ending the game. The run is the second he’s allowed in 7 2/3 innings since the A’s called him up. He remains 4-for-4 in his save chances, and he’ll probably be the clear favorite for saves in Sacramento until he blows one.

438 feet on the Kurtz homer. It was just the second 400-foot flyball Muñoz had given up since the beginning of last year. Kurtz hit that ball 110.6 mph and also had a 106.2 mph single. He’s still batting just .241 on the season, but he leads the majors with an average exit velocity of 98.8 mph. Oneil Cruz is second at 97.5 mph.

With Denzel Clarke (foot) landing on the IL, it will be Thomas who takes his place on the active roster. Thomas is hitting .309/.397/.574 in 78 plate appearances at Triple-A with five home runs and 19 RBI. The Athletics have only wanted to play him against left-handed pitching previously, but maybe he gets a shot at a bigger role this time.