ANAHEIM – The assessment of his ballclub provided by Athletics manager Mark Kotsay ahead of Tuesday’s game was two-fold as the A's entered play with a record under .500 for the first time since April 10, yet they remained in sole possession of first place in the American League West for the 23rd consecutive day.
On one hand, the A’s have not taken advantage of what, so far, has been a weak division. On the other hand, they’ve remained atop the standings despite their offense performing well below its high expectations heading into 2026.
“I just think as a team, we still have a lot of room for improvement, which is encouraging,” Kotsay said. “Especially on the offensive side, with a lineup that we know we have some guys in there that are battling.
“Our weighted on-base doesn’t match where we are with runs scored. We’re like 10th in weighted on-base average, and 20th in runs scored. That, to me, tells a sign that there’s some bad luck. There’s some balls that we haven’t taken advantage of with guys on base and getting that hit.”
The A’s found that big hit early, and often, on Tuesday night, racking up a season-high run total against the Angels in a 14-6 victory at Angel Stadium that showed exactly what this offense is able to do.
Five A’s hitters record at least two hits in the 15-hit onslaught that was just one shy of the club’s season-high. As opposed to Monday night’s frustrations with runners in scoring position in a heartbreaking loss, the A’s knocked in 12 of their runs with two outs on Tuesday, marking the most two-out runs scored in a game by any team in MLB this season.
Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof each slugged home runs, while Nick Kurtz led the way with three hits, five RBIs and a stolen base on the night.