A night after the Athletics played one of their worst games of the season, they answered with one of their best.
J.T. Ginn carried a no-hit bid into the seventh, the lineup broke out from top to bottom and the A’s snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 15-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday at Sutter Health Park. The win moved the Athletics to 42-56 and gave them a needed response after Friday’s 23-4 loss.
First-inning answer
The A’s wasted no time changing the tone.
Jacob Wilson opened the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer to left, his fifth of the season. Then Tyler Soderstrom singled, Carlos Cortes doubled him home and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer followed with an RBI double.
Soon after, Jonah Heim singled in Kuroda-Grauer, and Lawrence Butler’s forceout scored Donovan Walton. By the end of the first, the A’s led 5-0.
That inning mattered beyond the score. After the way Friday unraveled, the Athletics needed a clean, loud start.
Ginn takes over
Ginn made sure the lead held.
The right-hander struck out the side in the first and worked around two walks in the second. After that, he settled into command and kept Washington hitless through six innings.
Ginn’s no-hit bid ended with one out in the seventh when Keibert Ruiz singled to center. Still, his night was strong enough to set the entire game.
He allowed one hit over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He walked three and struck out seven.
Hogan Harris finished the seventh, Mark Leiter Jr. handled the eighth and Luis Medina took the ninth.
More than one big inning
The Athletics kept adding after the first.
Wilson singled in the second and later scored on Kuroda-Grauer’s forceout, making it 6-0. Then Jeff McNeil singled in the sixth before Soderstrom hit a two-run homer to right-center.
That pushed the lead to 8-0 and gave Soderstrom his 16th homer of the season.
The seventh turned the game into a rout. Cortes opened the inning with his seventh homer, Walton walked and McNeil singled in a run.
Then Wilson added an RBI single, and Langeliers cleared the bases with a three-run double. As a result, the A’s led 14-0.
Production everywhere
Eight of the nine Athletics starters drove in at least one run.
Wilson went 3-for-6 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs. McNeil also had three hits and drove in two.
Soderstrom went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs. Cortes added a homer, a double and two RBIs, while Langeliers drove in three.
Also, Kuroda-Grauer kept his early major league surge going. He went 1-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, a walk and two runs, keeping his average at .415 since his call-up.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with 15 runs on 13 hits. The Nationals had one run on four hits and committed one error.
The A’s went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. Washington went 1-for-6 in those spots and left eight.
Zack Littell took the loss after allowing eight runs on eight hits over six innings. Max Kranick, Carson Palmquist and Jorbit Vivas covered the final two innings, but the A’s kept building.
For Washington, Ruiz broke up the no-hit bid and later scored the only run in the ninth.
In the end, the A’s needed more than a win. They needed a reminder that they could still play a complete game.
Up next
The Athletics close the series against the Nationals on Sunday at Sutter Health Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. PDT.
Jacob Lopez gets the ball for the A’s. The left-hander enters at 4-3 with a 6.83 ERA and 43 strikeouts.
Across from him, Washington turns to left-hander Foster Griffin, who enters at 10-2 with a 2.77 ERA and 109 strikeouts.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, 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.
