The Athletics’ bullpen ranks among the worst in the majors this season, but several relievers are giving the team reason for optimism.
Hogan Harris, Luis Medina and Elvis Alvarado are emerging as reliable bullpen arms for the Athletics, who face the Minnesota Twins in the decisive contest of a three-game series on Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif.
The Athletics evened the series with a 4-2 win on Tuesday behind left-hander Gage Jump, who allowed two runs on three hits with two walks and nine strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.
Jump outdueled Minnesota right-hander Taj Bradley, who allowed four runs over 6 2/3 innings and matched his career high with 11 strikeouts. The Twins lost for the fourth time in their past five games.
“Taj pitched well, but we got pitched to tonight,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “Gage Jump, we knew coming into this, has really good stuff. The issue has been command and being on the plate, and tonight we saw a kid with really good stuff on the plate, and unfortunately we just couldn’t battle back.”
The Athletics won for the third time in their past four games after Harris, Medina and Alvarado closed the game with a combined 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
“Those three are guys that are going to pitch (when we’re leading),” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “I think all three threw the ball really well tonight and gave us a win.”
The Athletics will send right-hander J.T. Ginn (8-8, 3.60 ERA) to the mound in the series finale. He allowed three runs over five innings in a 4-0 road loss to the Houston Astros last Friday.
“I thought Ginn had some of the better stuff he’s had in a while,” Kotsay said. “I think, overall, they took some good at-bats. They got his pitch count up. The two walks came back to hurt him. That’s kind of the story overall. He pitched really well. He still gave us an opportunity to win.”
Ginn, 27, has yielded three earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. In his only previous start against Minnesota, he allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision on Aug. 20, 2025.
Minnesota will counter with left-hander Connor Prielipp (3-7, 5.57), who allowed six runs over six innings in a 6-2 road loss to the San Diego Padres last Friday.
Prielipp, 25, has given up a total of 14 runs and 16 hits in his past two starts covering 11 innings. He is making his second career start versus the Athletics after giving up one run over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against them at home on July 26.
The Twins are monitoring the status of center fielder Byron Buxton, who exited with an apparent injury while chasing down Henry Bolte’s two-out triple in the seventh inning on Tuesday.
“He’s been dealing with a hip issue, which we know, and I think it kind of caught when he went to stop on the ball that was hit in the gap,” Shelton said. “I just made the decision to get him off the field; we just need to look at it.”
–Field Level Media
