A's fruitful trip to Big Apple ends with franchise-first sweep of Mets

NEW YORK -- Nick Kurtz swung so hard at a low curveball from Freddy Peralta that his helmet flew off while he was running out of the box. Once the ball cleared the right-field wall, Kurtz pointed towards the A’s bullpen, then he looked to the Athletics’ dugout while rounding second and saw his teammates twirling their arms in a circular motion.

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for from the reigning American League Rookie of the Year. It took a little longer than expected, but for the first time in 2026, “Big Amish” was back to “churning butter” around the bases after slugging a Statcast-projected 363-foot solo home run.

Kurtz’s big fly was all the A’s needed in a 1-0 win at Citi Field on Sunday, securing the first series sweep of the Mets in franchise history. (The two teams played their first regular-season series against each other in 2005.) It was a strong finish to what goes down as a 5-1 road trip against the two New York teams, marking the first time the A’s have won at least five games in a six-game road trip since Sept. 14-19, 2021.

“This proves us right in what we thought about ourselves,” Kurtz said of the road trip. “[The Yankees and Mets] are two teams that you could see in the playoffs. It shows that we are good. We can win games against those types of teams.”

If you’ve been tracking Kurtz’s at-bats over the past week or so, you knew it was only a matter of time before he finally went deep. Despite having only two extra-base hits through his first 13 games, Kurtz entered Sunday tied for second in average exit velocity (96.7 mph) among all Major League hitters, only slightly trailing Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker (97.9 mph).

His plate discipline has also remained elite, with his 14 walks now tied for second-most in the Majors behind Mike Trout (15).

“He’s taken some good at-bats,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’s being patient. … A lot of times, you don’t see young players take their walks when they’re struggling. I wouldn’t say he’s struggling by any measure. He just hasn’t clicked yet. Today was a nice day for him.”

The start of Kurtz’s sophomore campaign is somewhat reminiscent of his first. After debuting on April 23 of last year, Kurtz did not homer until his 17th Major League game.

We know how that story ended. From the date of his first home run on May 13 through the end of the season, Kurtz homered 36 times while hitting .293 with a 1.052 OPS over his final 101 games, producing one of the greatest rookie performances in MLB history.

“I’m a streaky home run hitter,” Kurtz said earlier this week. “So I’m just going to keep going up there trying to hit the ball hard and win some ballgames.”

Now that Kurtz is off the schneid, could we start to see those homers come in bunches?

“I’m always hopeful for that,” Kurtz said with a laugh. “But let’s worry about winning tomorrow.”

Not only are these young A’s winning, they’re having a ton of fun while doing it, with fans getting a glimpse of that on Saturday when the team debuted its creative new home run celebration for the season.

The vibes are high for the young core that has been forming at the Major League level. That’s evident to the new veterans on the club, including Aaron Civale, who continued his strong start to the year by blanking the Mets across 5 2/3 innings.

“There’s a good energy and a good buzz every day,” Civale said. “That’s what creates a winning environment and a winning team. Just having each other’s backs and feeding off each other.”

This grueling stretch to begin the season was highlighted as one that would teach the A’s a lot about themselves. The 15-game gauntlet featured 12 games on the East Coast against the Blue Jays, Braves, Yankees and Mets, with three games at home against the Astros -- five clubs expected to be in the playoff conversation throughout the year.

Not only did the A’s survive, they came out of it with an 8-7 record and now return home guaranteed at least a share of first place in the AL West heading into Monday’s series opener against the Rangers.

“These guys wanted to have a successful road trip and came here prepared to play against two quality teams, and that showed,” Kotsay said. “Their confidence is growing.”