The Athletics wrapped up their two-game set against the Angels with a 7-3 win on Wednesday night, locking in their 63rd victory of the season and making sure they will not reach 100 losses. With the sweep complete, the A’s also look well positioned to finish ahead of Los Angeles in both the division and the league.
Jeffrey Springs got the ball for what was his final start of the 2026 season, and possibly his last outing in an A’s uniform. The veteran left-hander, who is headed for free agency, opened strong. Over the first three innings, he allowed just two singles, erased one of them with a pickoff and the other with a double play, and struck out two while keeping the Angels quiet.
Los Angeles finally broke through in the fourth. Mike Trout led off the damage with a solo homer, and Vaughn Grissom followed with another blast to make it back-to-back shots. Springs returned for the fifth, but after a one-out hit by pitch, manager Mark Kotsay pulled him from the game.
Jeffrey Springs: 4 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR, 84 pitches
Springs will finish the year with a 6.18 ERA in 29 starts, and the fit with Sacramento appears shaky given how his pitching style plays there. He’s now on the market, and while another club may look at the track record and see a fix, it likely won’t be the A’s.
The real early punch came from the offense, which wasted no time against Angels rookie right-hander Walbert Urena. Henry Bolte opened the first with a single, moved into scoring position, and scored when Lawrence Butler singled him home for the first run of the night. After Shea Langeliers grounded into a double play, Jeff McNeil walked and Zack Gelof was hit by a pitch, setting up Donovan Walton to unload on a hanging pitch for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead.
The A’s kept the pressure on in the second. Alika Williams singled to start the inning, stole second, and Bolte drove him in with his second hit of the night. Bolte would finish with four hits, and his rookie line keeps looking stronger: .279/.362/.407 with 11 home runs and 21 stolen bases, along with solid defense in center.
The Angels made things interesting after Springs exited, cutting into the lead with the Trout and Grissom homers and then bringing around the final runner Springs left on to make it 5-3 in the fifth. That left the game within reach, but the A’s answered when they needed to.
With Urena out, Langeliers delivered the insurance blow in the fifth, lining a two-run double for his 100th career double and pushing the lead to 7-3. He’s now hitting .300 since returning, and the A’s are clearly getting a boost from having him back in the middle of the lineup.
The bullpen then handled the rest without drama. Geoff Hartlieb worked five outs after Springs, Luis Medina got through a clean seventh, Hogan Harris tossed an uneventful ninth, and Elvis Alvarado finished it with a 1-2-3 ninth.
The A’s now move on to one final series before the offseason, a four-game set against the division-rival Astros in Sacramento. Houston has not yet officially clinched a spot in October, so the A’s should be seeing the best version of them over the weekend. Neither team has named a starter for the opener yet.
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Cortes is in a similar spot, trying to keep his momentum going while the outfield picture gets a little more crowded. None of these decisions are locked in yet, but that is exactly why the end of the schedule matters here. The Athletics are using these games to see who can carry recent form forward, who can handle a tougher roster conversation, and who might need to spend the winter waiting on a clearer path back. [Read more 🡒]