Lawrence Butler’s bat has been in a deep slumber, and the 25-year-old outfielder hasn’t resembled the player who topped 20 homers in each of his first two full major league seasons.
Perhaps that’s why Athletics manager Mark Kotsay was so excited to see the “Law Dog” deliver a pivotal three-run homer in Wednesday’s 5-2 triumph over the Kansas City Royals.
Now Butler and the A’s will look to beat the Royals again on Thursday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series at West Sacramento, Calif.
Butler broke a 1-1 tie with his three-run homer, in the fourth inning, to help propel the Athletics on Wednesday.
“It’s nice to see the results and the joy,” Kotsay said of Butler. “It’s always great to see the Law Dog smiling, for sure.”
The left-handed-hitting Butler had just two homers and nine RBIs entering the contest. He hit 22 homers in 2024 and 21 last season.
Butler is batting just .187 this season after going 1-for-4 on Wednesday.
Yet his bat barked loudly with that 404-foot blast to right center off Royals right-hander Michael Wacha.
“That felt great. It’s been kind of a slow start for me,” Butler said. “To be able to help the team out offensively, it feels amazing. Each and every one of us, all we want to do is help us get a win.”
Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz had an RBI double in Wednesday’s victory to stretch his on-base streak to 24 games.
Kurtz also drew a walk for the 18th straight game, the third-best streak in American League history. Legendary Ted Williams walked in 19 straight games for the Boston Red Sox in 1941, and Roy Cullenbine of the Detroit Tigers set an AL and major league record by drawing one in 22 games in a row in 1947.
The Royals won the opening game of the series on Tuesday when Bobby Witt Jr. slammed a three-run homer in the top of the 10th during a 4-1 victory.
Witt went 2-for-4 and scored twice on Wednesday to stretch his hitting streak to 10 games. He has five two-hit outings during the streak while raising his batting average 34 points to .297.
But Kansas City couldn’t land the big hit on Wednesday and had just two official at-bats with runners in scoring position. Three batters came up in that situation in the ninth, and it resulted in Michael Massey’s RBI sacrifice fly, Isaac Collins’ walk and Jac Caglianone’s game-ending strikeout.
“They were grinding out those at-bats,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “They battled and we got the tying run to the plate in the ninth. Very competitive at-bats.”
Kansas City first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (lower back) sat out Wednesday after being injured during the series opener.
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-2, 3.79 ERA) will take the mound for the Athletics in the finale. Springs, 33, has served up five homers while losing his last two starts after giving up none while going 3-0 over his first four outings.
He gave up four homers against the Chicago White Sox on April 19 and gave up another last Saturday when he lost to the Texas Rangers 4-3. He surrendered four runs and five hits over six innings against Texas.
Springs is 0-0 with a 3.07 ERA in six career appearances (two starts) against Kansas City. Witt is 3-for-4 with two RBIs against Springs.
Left-hander Noah Cameron (2-1, 5.13 ERA) will start for the Royals on Thursday, and he defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 last Friday in his most recent start. Cameron gave up three runs and eight hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Cameron, 26, has no-decisions in both career starts against the A’s. He has struck out 13 over 9 2/3 innings.
Brent Rooker is 2-for-3 with two walks against Cameron.
–Field Level Media
