A’s blank Angels 3-0 for first spring shutout

The A’s earned their first shutout of the spring with a 3-0 win over the Angels at Hohokam Stadium. Jeffrey Springs threw 4.2 scoreless, and Max Muncy homered.

by
Mark Hebert
March 16, 2026

The Athletics picked up their first shutout of the spring Monday afternoon, beating the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 at Hohokam Stadium behind a clean effort from Jeffrey Springs and a bullpen that never cracked.

Springs worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out four. Then the A’s turned it over to Nick Anderson, Mark Leiter Jr., Michael Kelly and A.J. Causey, who finished the job and held the Angels scoreless on seven hits. Causey earned the save.

Monday shutout 🤝 pic.twitter.com/kb0smdkADd

— Athletics (@Athletics) March 16, 2026

Fast start, then enough pitching

The A’s did all of their scoring early, and it was enough.

After Nick Kurtz was hit by a pitch and Shea Langeliers walked in the first, Brent Rooker lined an RBI single to center to open the scoring. Rooker then stole second, and Jacob Wilson followed with another RBI single to make it 2-0.

That quick burst gave the A’s room to breathe. More importantly, it gave their pitchers a lead they never gave back.

Muncy stays hot

Max Muncy added the only other run the Athletics needed in the fourth inning, launching a solo homer to right for his fourth home run of the spring.

Muncy finished 1-for-3 with the homer, while Rooker and Wilson each drove in a run in the opening inning. Langeliers reached twice and scored once before giving way to Brian Serven behind the plate.

The offense only managed four hits, but it was efficient enough. The A’s went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left only four men on base.

Bullpen locks it down

The Angels threatened more than once, but the A’s kept making the right pitch.

Anderson got the final out of the fifth after Mike Trout doubled. Later, Leiter escaped a seventh-inning jam after Los Angeles put runners at second and third with two outs. In the eighth, Serven helped erase another threat by picking Trey Mancini off first base after Randy De Jesus had singled.

Then Causey handled the ninth. He worked around a hit batter and a walk to close out the shutout.

Los Angeles finished 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners.

Up next

The A’s head back to Goodyear Ballpark on Tuesday for another spring training road game against the White Sox. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. PDT, 1:05 p.m. local time in Arizona.