Nick Kurtz got off to a slow start in the power department by going homerless over the Athletics’ first 13 games and later enduring a 15-game drought.
But Kurtz suddenly has found his long-ball stroke, and he will attempt to homer for the fourth consecutive game when the Athletics face the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Kurtz smashed a go-ahead, three-run blast over the wall in left-center in Friday’s 5-2 victory in the opener of the three-game set against the Giants.
“I was looking for something early (in the count) to get the job done and looking to get it in the air,” Kurtz said of jumping on Tyler Mahle’s first-pitch cutter to smack his eighth blast of the season.
Kurtz, 23, also homered in the final two games of a series with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is 5-for-10 in the three-game stretch and has reached base in 38 consecutive games.
Kurtz’s streak is the longest by an Athletics player since Jason Giambi reached in 39 straight games in both the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
But Kurtz, the fourth overall selection of the 2024 draft, is most valued for his power. He went deep 36 times last season and was the unanimous American League Rookie of the Year.
“I’ve been feeling better in batting practice and things are starting to come together a little bit,” Kurtz said. “It takes time throughout the season — you may come out hot, you may come out cold and then get hot. It’s a roller coaster of emotions.”
San Francisco went 5-1 against the Athletics last season but this year’s first clash didn’t go well.
Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader hit solo homers for San Francisco, which left 10 men on base and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position while falling to 8-15 on the road.
Arraez had four hits, marking the 23rd time that the three-time batting champion has had four or more in a game.
“It’s good for me but it’s not good for the team,” Arraez said. “We want to win the game.”
Meanwhile, Giants manager Tony Vitello insisted his club played a solid game.
“As a coaching staff, you have to feel like if we played like we did (Friday), the law of percentages like that is we win the game,” Vitello said. “I thought the team played real well. … You saw what you wanted to see if you were in our dugout.”
Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos departed Friday’s game after 5 1/2 innings due to right quadriceps tightness and Vitello said Ramos won’t be available Saturday. He went 1-for-3 before exiting.
Right-hander Luis Severino (2-4, 4.07 ERA) will take the mound for the Athletics.
Severino, 32, has allowed just five runs while going 2-2 in a four-start span. He lost his last two starts, including Sunday when he gave up two runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings against the host Baltimore Orioles.
Severino is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in three starts at Sutter Health Park. Last year, he was 2-9 with a 6.01 ERA in 15 home starts.
Severino is 0-2 with a 3.47 ERA in four career starts against the Giants. He has regularly shut down Rafael Devers (3-for-24) and Matt Chapman (3-for-23) while struggling with Arraez (5-for-9) and Willy Adames (6-for-17, one homer).
Right-hander Trevor McDonald (1-0, 2.92) makes his third start of the season for San Francisco.
He impressed while beating the San Diego Padres on May 4 when he gave up one run and two hits over seven innings. He also faced the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday and allowed three runs and nine hits over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision.
McDonald, 25, has never faced the A’s.
–Field Level Media
