ARLINGTON -- “Awesome.”
That’s the word A’s starter Luis Severino used to describe seeing his teammates find their power stroke in a historic way Friday, belting three homers in the top of the first inning for the first time in franchise history en route to an 8-1 victory over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
“It was awesome to go out there with a 3-0 lead. Confidence goes through the roof,” said Severino, who went on to deliver his best start of the season, allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings.
Nick Kurtz started the barrage against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, sending a first-pitch fastball a Statcast-projected 417 feet into the right-field seats. Kurtz’s exit velocity was 115.9 mph, tied for the A’s hardest-hit homer since Statcast tracking began in 2015.
“You usually get a heater [first pitch], so I was looking for it,” said Kurtz, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year who has four homers in his last six games. “He threw it to a place where I could hit it.”
Two batters later, Carlos Cortes turned on a 2-0 splitter that sailed over the right-center-field fence. Tyler Soderstrom followed Cortes by launching a first-pitch fastball into the right-field seats.
The three home runs came in the game’s first seven pitches and combined to travel a projected 1,222 feet. It made history for the A’s, who entered having played 9,757 road games without hitting three or more home runs in the opening frame.
It provided a rare cushion for the A’s, too, as they entered with the fewest runs scored in the first inning. In the first 25 games, the A’s were outscored 19-4 and had no home runs in the opening frame.
“We’ve had trouble as an offense getting out of the gate and giving our pitchers a lead,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “So, it’s nice to see the offense come out and put up a three-spot in the first inning, which hasn’t happened this year.”
Surprisingly, the narrative flipped against a pitcher who had tormented them in the past. Eovaldi entered with a 2.54 ERA in 15 career starts against the A's, including throwing seven scoreless in an 8-1 Rangers victory on April 13.
But the A’s jumped on him in the first and again in the fifth. Cortes homered for a second time, swatting a three-run blast over the right-field fence.
“I just felt good today,” said Cortes, who is 10-for-21 (.426) with three homers and two doubles in his last five games. “I’m excited to come through in some good situations, big situations.”
Those runs were enough for Severino, who had his deepest outing. He struck out five and walked one, the fewest walks he’s issued this season.
Severino benefited from solid defensive play, too, including a terrific catch by center fielder Zack Gelof at the wall. Gelof snatched a potential home run from Brandon Nimmo to end the fifth.
Gelof joined the home run party in the ninth, roping a two-run shot to left. The five home runs were the most by the A’s in a game this season and matched the Rangers’ season home run total at home (five).
For those in the A’s clubhouse, though, the power surge came as no surprise.
As Kurtz said, “I feel like that’s part of our offense that we’ve always had, but we haven’t really shown much this year. It’s really cool to see us kind of show people that we still got the power, we still can hit long balls, but we’re expanding into a better all-around offense.”
Speaking of Kurtz, he also drew a walk in the fifth inning, successfully challenging a 3-1 pitch originally called a strike. That extended his walk streak to 14 games, one shy of the A’s franchise-high streak set by Rickey Henderson.
Nick Kurtz's mark is also the second-most consecutive games with a walk for a player age 23 or younger, only second to Ted Williams's stretch of 19 games set in 1941.
Kurtz explained his approach at the plate, saying: “If I get on first base, usually good things will happen for this team. I’m not looking for [walks], it’s just trying to get in good counts, swing at the right pitches.
“When you do that, sometimes you get in the 3-1, 3-0, 2-0 counts where you can either do damage or take a walk.”