The Athletics got the early swing they needed, then held on late.
Carlos Cortes hit a leadoff homer, Jacob Lopez earned the win out of the bullpen, and the A’s beat the Padres 5-2 on Sunday at Petco Park. As a result, the Athletics moved to 27-26 and stayed in first place in the AL West.
The win also pushed the A’s two games ahead of Texas. Seattle sits 2.5 games back.
Early edge
Cortes opened the game with his fifth homer of the season.
Then the A’s added two more in the second. Henry Bolte doubled home Zack Gelof with two outs, and Alika Williams followed with his first hit and first RBI as an Athletic.
The Athletics made it 4-0 in the fourth when Jonah Heim scored on a wild pitch.
Lopez steadies it
Luis Medina opened the game and worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
After that, Lopez carried the bulk of the day. He allowed one run on six hits across 4 2/3 innings, walked one and struck out three.
Lopez improved to 4-2.
Padres push back
San Diego got on the board in the sixth on Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly.
Then Ty France cut the lead to 4-2 with a solo homer off Justin Sterner in the seventh. However, the A’s added insurance in the ninth.
Lawrence Butler scored on Tyler Soderstrom’s RBI single, giving the bullpen a three-run cushion.
Closing time
The Padres threatened in the ninth after Hogan Harris walked Jackson Merrill and Ramón Laureano.
Harris struck out France for the first out. Then Scott Barlow entered and struck out Nick Castellanos before Fernando Tatis Jr. flew out to right.
It was Barlow’s first save as an Athletic.
Numbers that mattered
Kurtz went 2-for-4 with a walk and extended his on-base streak to 47 games.
Cortes finished 2-for-4 with the homer and a walk. Soderstrom also had two hits and drove in the final run.
Bolte doubled, walked and drove in a run. Williams added his first Athletics hit and RBI in the second.
Up next
The Athletics return home Monday to open a three-game series against Seattle.
Aaron Civale is scheduled to start for the A’s. He enters 5-1 with a 3.31 ERA and 37 strikeouts. The Mariners are set to counter with Luis Castillo, who is 1-5 with a 6.41 ERA and 47 strikeouts.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
