Langeliers alongside Hall of Famers with 3 HRs in season's first 2 games

TORONTO -- If this season goes according to plan for the Athletics, multiple hitters in this starting lineup are going to contribute to high-scoring performances throughout the year.

For now, Shea Langeliers is carrying the offense on his back.

One night after providing all the hits and runs for the A’s in an Opening Day loss by slugging a pair of solo home runs, Langeliers shouldered the load with another explosive day at the plate, going 2-for-4 in a performance highlighted by a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning off Blue Jays reliever Brendon Little to punctuate a five-run frame.

Now up to five hits and three home runs in 2026, Langeliers became just the second A’s player in franchise history with three homers over the first two games of a regular season. He joins Hall of Famer Al Simmons, who also hit three nearly a century ago in 1930.

As far as MLB backstops go, Langeliers’ three homers are tied for the most by a player as a catcher in his team’s first two games of a season since 1900, joining Mike Piazza, who did so in 2004.

“He’s the catalyst right now,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Langeliers. “He’s as locked in as I’ve seen him in three years.”

Langeliers’ Statcast-projected 420-foot tie-breaking slam to straightaway center should have been enough support for the A’s bullpen, which enters 2026 in a closer-by-committee approach. But in essentially the first opportunity to test out that method, the late-inning formula backfired in what ended up an 8-7 loss to Toronto in 11 innings on Saturday at Rogers Centre.

The collective collapse began in the bottom of the seventh. Elvis Alvarado inherited a four-run lead from fellow reliever Mark Leiter Jr. and allowed a two-out RBI single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before finishing the inning with a strikeout of Kazuma Okamoto.

From there, Alvarado went back out for the eighth but was quickly replaced by Hogan Harris after back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Harris recorded two outs but was pulled for Michael Kelly after Toronto plated two more runs to trim its deficit to one. Escaping a bases-loaded jam with a lineout from Guerrero, Kelly went back out for the ninth and blew a save opportunity by surrendering a solo homer to Alejandro Kirk.

In all, six relievers combined to allow six runs (four earned) in relief of starter Jeffrey Springs, who limited the Blue Jays to two runs on five hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.

Two games into the season is far too early to push the panic button on this bullpen strategy. Saturday’s struggles, though, highlighted the potential risks of starting the season without any set roles.

“We’re looking for guys in roles right now,” Kotsay said. “The Alvarado inning just got away from him when he went back out and walked two guys. For us, he’s going to be a big part of this bullpen.”

Ideally, the A’s will get to a point in the season where at least a few relievers stand out and earn more defined roles in the backend.

One of those early candidates is Scott Barlow, who, after impressing with a scoreless appearance in his A’s debut on Friday, only allowed a run to score on Saturday as a result of the automatic-runner rule in the 10th. Alvarado and Luis Medina, who allowed the game-winning hit to Ernie Clement in the 11th, both flashed closer stuff with fastballs that touched 99.9 to 100 mph. But until that bullpen picture becomes clearer, Kotsay will have to mix and match his relievers as best he can here in the early part of the season.

“It’s still early,” Kotsay said. “Getting the rhythm of the bullpen is going to be important. It’s just unfortunate we let a lead slip away.”

Getting walked off twice in the first two games is not the ideal start to the season for the A’s. At the same time, a pair of one-run losses against the reigning American League champions provides an important reminder for this young squad with playoff aspirations of the thin margin for error in this game, especially when going up against one of the top teams in baseball.

“Toronto is a tough place to start,” Langeliers said. “These guys got to Game 7 of the World Series last year. It’s a really good baseball team over there, and these games have been close. I’d much rather lose by one run than get blown out.”