Sports
Farewell, Oakland: Sellout crowd expected for A's city finale vs. Rangers
Sep 25, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; A sign reads “Oakland forever” for the Oakland Athletics after the game against the Texas Rangers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images A rare sellout crowd of about 46,000 will be there to witness — and likely celebrate the good memories afterward — when the Athletics put a wrap on 57 years of major league baseball in Oakland with their final home game Thursday afternoon against the Texas Rangers.
Drawing much larger crowds than usual, the A’s have lost four of five on their final homestand. They will finish the 2024 season with three games in Seattle and then begin a new chapter in 2025 about 90 miles away in Sacramento, their home for three seasons as they await construction of a new ballpark in Las Vegas.
Team ownership decided to move after contentious years of not being able to strike a deal with local officials to build a stadium to replace the aged Coliseum.
Oakland manager Mark Kotsay, while disappointed with his team’s lackluster effort in a 5-1 loss to the Rangers (75-83) on Wednesday, knows Thursday’s finale will leave a lasting impression, win or lose. He played with the A’s for four seasons of his 17-year career, including on the 2006 Oakland team that reached the American League Championship Series.
“The ‘Let’s go Oakland’ is ingrained in my brain,” Kotsay said. “That’ll never go away, no matter if we’re playing here or if I’m sitting on a porch somewhere retired. I’m always going to be forever grateful for the fans, the memories and the passion they bring in night in and night out.”
This year’s Oakland fans not only have suffered through a lame-duck six months but also the possibility of the club’s third consecutive season with less than 70 wins. The A’s (68-90), who won four championships in Oakland after moving from Kansas City in 1968, failed to reach the 70-win mark three straight years twice previously — from 1977-79 and 1993-95.
Those who showed up for the series opener with Texas on Tuesday got to witness a walk-off win, the 485th since the A’s moved west, the most in the majors over that stretch, according to Oakland’s researchers.
“I feel for the fans,” said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who was a neighbor of the A’s as the skipper of the San Francisco Giants for 13 years. “There’s a lot of die-hard Oakland fans. Believe me, I had to hear it from them over the years. They’re passionate. They’ve had a lot of success here.
“It’s a fun place to play — the atmosphere, the fans. I always enjoyed my time here. It’s hard to believe this is going to be the last series. I’m glad that I’m here for it.”
The final pitching matchup will pit top prospects seeking to start their own historic journeys with a potential first big-league win while adding their names to a page of baseball lore.
The scheduled starters are the Rangers’ 24-year-old Kumar Rocker (0-1, 2.57 ERA) — rated by MLB.com as the No. 2 right-handed pitcher coming out of high school in the 2018 draft — and A’s 25-year-old righty J.T. Ginn (0-1, 4.40), named the 2018 national high school player of the year by USA Today.
Both were first-round draft picks. The New York Mets selected Rocker, then the ace at Vanderbilt, with the No. 10 overall pick in 2021 but didn’t sign him by the deadline. The Rangers took him No. 3 overall the following year. The Los Angeles Dodgers tabbed Ginn with the No. 30 overall selection in 2018, but he chose to attend Mississippi State and re-entered the draft in 2020.
Rocker will make his third big-league start. He has thrown a total of seven innings against the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays, allowing three runs (two earned) and five hits.
Ginn is slated for his sixth start and eighth appearance overall — his first against the Rangers. He is coming off the best effort of his young campaign, limiting the New York Yankees to one run in five innings in his team’s 4-2 loss last Friday. Ginn didn’t figure into the decision.
-Field Level Media
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CJ Abrams (5 RBIs), Nationals slam Twins
May 6, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) hits an RBI double against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images CJ Abrams had three hits including a grand slam, Miles Mikolas pitched into the sixth inning and the host Washington Nationals routed the Minnesota Twins 15-2 on Wednesday night.
Brady House, Drew Millas and Jose Tena each had two hits including a home run for the Nationals, who collected 14 hits. Abrams also had two doubles and five RBIs, and James Wood and Jacob Young each had two hits.
Mikolas (1-3), signed as a free agent in the offseason, began the game with an 8.23 ERA. The right-hander pitched a season-high 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits. Mikolas retired 16 of the 19 batters he faced to earn his first Washington win.
Three Washington pitchers held Minnesota to three hits. Matt Wallner had two hits including a home run for Minnesota, which had won two straight.
Twins starter Bailey Ober (3-2) went five-plus innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the third when Luke Keaschall doubled and scored on a Wallner single.
Washington did not get a baserunner against Ober until Wood singled leading off the fourth. Wood stole second with one out and Curtis Mead walked. Abrams followed with a double to score Wood.
Wallner homered off Mikolas in the fifth to put Twins up 2-1.
Young singled leading off the bottom half and Millas homered to center to give Washington a 3-2 lead.
In the sixth, back-to-back doubles by Abrams and House ended Ober’s night. Tena greeted reliever Andrew Morris with Washington’s third straight double to make it 5-2. With two outs, Nasim Nunez tripled to right and the lead was 6-2.
Daylen Lile walked leading off the bottom of the seventh and, with two outs, House homered to center to make it 8-2.
Young singled, Millas doubled and Wood singled them both home in the eighth. Washington loaded the bases and Abrams smacked a grand slam to right-center, the second of his career. Tena followed with a homer to make it 15-2.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Phillies' 4-run eighth fuels rally past Athletics
May 6, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Adolis García (53) celebrates his home run with second baseman Edmundo Sosa (33) against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Edmundo Sosa delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to notch a 6-3 victory over the visiting Athletics on Wednesday.
Brandon Marsh had three hits and an RBI for Philadelphia, which improved to 8-1 under interim manager Don Mattingly. Adolis Garcia homered for the Phillies while J.T. Realmuto, Garcia and Sosa each had two hits.
A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who exited his last outing with hip soreness, gave up two runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and no walks in a crisp 75-pitch performance. Nick Kurtz finished with two hits and an RBI as he reached base for the 30th straight game.
In his third start since returning from a blood clot in his shoulder, Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
The Phillies trailed 3-2 in the eighth inning when Kyle Schwarber drew a leadoff walk against Jack Perkins (2-1). Bryce Harper reached on an error by second baseman Jeff McNeil that spoiled a potential double play, then Garcia singled to load the bases.
Sosa grounded his two-run single up the middle to give Philadelphia the lead. The Athletics brought in Hogan Harris for the platoon advantage against Brandon Marsh, but Marsh stroked an RBI single before Justin Crawford’s RBI groundout made it 6-3 as the Phillies’ four-run frame featured two unearned runs.
The A’s loaded the bases against Brad Keller with two outs in the ninth, but the veteran right-hander got Jacob Wilson on a grounder back to the mound to end it. Orion Kerkering (1-0) recorded the final out of the eighth.
Kurtz’s RBI single in the fifth made it 2-0, but Philadelphia got a run back in the bottom half as Marsh tripled and scored on a grounder by Felix Reyes. Tyler Soderstrom led off the sixth with a homer against Wheeler to make it 3-1.
The Phillies answered again, this time with Garcia’s solo homer in their half of the sixth.
Perkins pitched the seventh for the A’s, striking out a pair, before the right-hander ran into trouble in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pete Alonso helps power Orioles past Marlins
May 6, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) congratulates Pete Alonso (25) on his three-run home run in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Pete Alonso hammered a three-run home run and Adley Rutschman smacked two run-scoring doubles as the Baltimore Orioles beat the host Miami Marlins 7-4 on Wednesday night.
It’s the second victory in a row following a five-game skid for the Orioles, who will go for a series sweep on Thursday.
Orioles starter Brandon Young (3-1) worked six innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Rico Garcia pitched the ninth for his second save as four pitchers combined on a six-hitter.
Baltimore won despite being limited to seven hits, though the Orioles drew seven walks. Taylor Ward picked up three of the walks and scored three runs.
Jakob Marsee drove in two runs, but the Marlins lost their fourth game in a row and for the fifth time in six games.
Marlins starter Eury Perez (2-4) lasted five-plus innings and was charged with a season-high five earned runs on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts.
Dax Fulton entered to pitch for Miami in the sixth inning in his major league debut, striking out Dylan Beavers and Coby Mayo as the first batters he faced with two runners on base.
Both teams scored in the first inning.
Alonso’s seventh homer of the season was a three-run blast that came with one out after Ward walked and Rutschman was hit by a pitch.
The first two Marlins were retired before two runners reached base and Marsee knocked them in with a double on an 0-2 splitter. Owen Caissie’s single drove in Marsee.
The Orioles went back ahead in the fourth on Beavers’ two-out double. Rutschman doubled in Ward in the fifth with two outs.
Rutschman’s seventh-inning double stretched the lead to 6-3.
The Marlins got a run in the seventh, with pinch hitter Otto Lopez doubling and scoring on Xavier Edwards’ groundout.
–Field Level Media
CJ Abrams (5 RBIs), Nationals slam Twins
Phillies' 4-run eighth fuels rally past Athletics
