Slugging in Seattle: A's swat 1st 4-HR inning in 24 years

SEATTLE -- The Athletics anticipated having one of the most potent offenses in baseball this season. Of course, that prognostication did not account for losing four of their top sluggers to potential season-ending injuries.

There are a combined total of 73 home runs hit this season on the injured list between the absences of Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom and Brent Rooker. Despite that, the A’s showed Friday night that there is still plenty of thump left in this lineup by putting on the type of power display not seen in ages.

A 7-6 victory over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park was highlighted by a five-run third inning that featured home runs by Max Muncy, Alika Williams, Jeff McNeil and Zack Gelof. All four long balls came off Seattle starter and longtime A’s nemesis Logan Gilbert, who was bounced out of the game after matching a season-high seven runs allowed across just 4 2/3 innings.

Muncy got the homer surge started, leading off the third by swatting a first-pitch fastball low in the zone from Gilbert over the wall in left a Statcast-projected 349 feet. From there, three of the next five batters went yard, each homer going longer than the previous and culminating in Gelof’s 398-foot solo blast to left.

“I feel like we were just passing the baton to the next guy up and just taking really good swings,” said Gelof, who also drilled a go-ahead triple off Gilbert in the fifth after Seattle came back to tie the game at 5-5. “It was just awesome as an offense that [the Mariners] tied it up, and we came back and put more runs up. That just says how much better we’re getting as a team.”

That high-powered third inning was the first time the A's have homered four times in one inning since April 27, 2002, when Scott Hatteberg, Terrence Long, Carlos Peña and Frank Menechino all went deep in the third inning against the White Sox.

The fact that it happened against Gilbert carried extra significance. The right-hander entered the night carrying a 2.81 ERA in 16 career starts against the A’s. By the end of it, he left as the first pitcher in Mariners history to allow four homers in a single inning, per Elias.

“He’s been pretty great against us,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Gilbert. “Phenomenal night by the offense. The guys really took great at-bats again. … They continued to grind at-bats. To get him out of the game in the fifth inning says a lot about what they did.”

The A’s have now won three games in a row for the first time since a four-game winning streak from June 9-13. A theme of the past three games has been an offensive outburst, with double-digit hit totals in all three contests.

For a second straight night, the A’s bullpen shut it down following a short outing from their starter, albeit with a mostly different cast of characters. This time, after Kade Morris lasted just 2 2/3 innings, the quartet of Brady Basso, Geoff Hartlieb, Elvis Alvarado and Hogan Harris combined to allow just one run across the game’s final 6 1/3 innings.

Basso did the heavy lifting in this one. Taking over with two outs and one on in the third, the left-hander recorded the final out to keep it tied and ended up tossing three scoreless frames to notch his first win of 2026.

“With the momentum of the game, I really felt like we needed to get the ball to Basso with the left-handed bats coming behind him,” Kotsay said. “It worked out. Bass did a phenomenal job. This is a kid who just threw 40 pitches two days ago, took the ball again and threw another [38] tonight. Outstanding job by Bass.”

Formerly a top prospect in the A’s system, Basso has gone through his ups and downs while battling injuries in recent years. Transitioning from starting to relieving this year, the 28-year-old is quietly carving out a valuable role as a multi-inning option and holds a 4.32 ERA in 22 games.

“It’s been a learning experience,” Basso said. “I like to think that I can just get outs when I can. Whenever they hand me the ball, just go in and attack hitters. It’s been fun. I’ll pitch wherever. As long as I get the ball, I’m happy.”