The Athletics opened the final stretch of their home schedule with a 6-5 walk-off win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, a reminder that this team can still string together a big moment even while the bigger picture remains messy.
Pitching has been the central issue from the start. The A’s entered the season worried about whether they could assemble a workable staff, and that concern has only grown louder.
They own the worst ERA in baseball, and the damage hasn’t been confined to one setting. Their 4.58 road ERA is ugly enough, but it looks tame next to the 6.33 mark at Sutter Health Park.
The home run total has been especially brutal: 135 allowed in 70 home games, with visiting lineups repeatedly taking advantage of the minor-league park.
The bullpen has taken plenty of the blame for that mess, and for good reason. Leads have disappeared too often.
But there has been a recent shift, with Scott Blewett, Chris Roycroft, Brady Basso and Seth Johnson all turning in stronger work lately. That group could matter again next season, and Luis Medina and Hogan Harris have also been mostly solid.
Even with that progress, the A’s still need help. A proven late-inning reliever should be near the top of the shopping list, whether that comes through free agency or a trade. They also need a veteran starter who can bring some stability to a rotation that has been too inconsistent all year.
The defense has been part of the problem too. By DRS, the A’s rank fourth-worst in the majors.
Jacob Wilson at shortstop and Nick Kurtz at first base have both improved, but the outfield has been a rougher story. Lawrence Butler has been uneven in right field, while Carlos Cortes has been an abject disaster in both corner spots.
Even so, there is a major caveat here: the core group has barely been on the field together because of injuries. If those starters are back and healthy, the defense has a real chance to look better in 2027.
That leaves the A’s with the same basic question hanging over the rest of this season and the offseason: how do they turn all these scattered signs of progress into something that actually lasts?
Around the organization, there were a couple of other notable notes. Stockton, the club’s Single-A affiliate, joined the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators as A’s minor league teams headed to the postseason. And the A’s released their 2027 spring training schedule a few days ago, even though an offseason CBA lockout could still delay or cancel next season.
In Other News...
As Bullpen Nearly Ruined Henry Boltes Breakout Night
For most of Friday night at the Coliseum, Henry Bolte looked like the kind of young spark the Athletics have been searching for, turning the opener against Toronto into his breakout stage. The As outlasted the Blue Jays 6-5 in the first game of a three-game series, and Bolte was in the middle of nearly everything positive, giving the crowd a reason to keep leaning forward as the game unfolded.
Jacob Lopez gave Oakland six solid innings to set things up, but the bullpen nearly let the whole thing slip away after the Blue Jays clawed back to tie it. The As still found a way to finish it in the ninth, keeping Boltes big night from being wasted and giving the club a win that felt far tighter than it should have been. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics Keep Wrecking The AL Race As A New Spark Emerges
The Athletics kept playing spoiler in a way that has become hard to ignore, taking down the Blue Jays behind a night built on pressure, contact and mistakes turned into runs. Jacob Lopez gave them six innings and allowed four runs, while the offense kept the ball in play and made Toronto pay for its errors, a formula that has helped Oakland keep shaking up the American League picture even as the calendar moves toward the finish line.
Henry Bolte gave the game its flash, showing up as the latest unexpected spark in an As lineup that is finding new ways to matter. He stole three bases and hit a home run, a combination the club had not seen from one of its own in decades, and it was the kind of burst that can alter more than one conversation around the standings and beyond, from the Wild Card chase to the ripple effects on individual awards. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics Have A Real Shot To Ruin Torontos Wild Card Push
The Athletics have spent most of the season buried near the bottom of the American League standings, but they still have a chance to influence the postseason race in a meaningful way. Even with key players missing, Oakland can still play spoiler, and Toronto is one of the clubs watching closely as it tries to hold off pressure in the Wild Card chase.
A familiar face is part of the setup, too, with Jose Soriano now in the Blue Jays mix after coming over from the Angels at the trade deadline. The As have seen him plenty from his AL West days, and that history matters as Oakland looks for any edge it can find while trying to make life a little harder for a contender that badly needs every win. [Read more 🡒]