ST. LOUIS -- Welcome back, Nick Kurtz and Luis Severino.
Both returned to the Athletics’ lineup on Tuesday and were factors in a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals in a game that took just 1 hour, 55 minutes to complete. It was the A’s shortest game of the season and shortest since a 1-hour, 54-minute affair against Tampa Bay on Aug. 20, 2024.
Kurtz missed the last three games after leaving Friday’s contest against Texas with a right oblique strain and the 22-year-old didn’t waste time adding to his Rookie of the Year resume.
Kurtz’s RBI double scored JJ Bleday to give the A’s a 1-0 lead in the third inning. It was Kurtz’s 71st RBI, the most among all rookies this season.
“It feels good [to be back],” Kurtz said. "It was only a couple days, but I’m glad to be back out there, for sure.”
Kurtz was intentionally walked in the fifth, his 54th free pass this season, which leads all rookies. He also added a nice grab of a hot shot off the bat of Jimmy Crooks in the fifth to save a hit.
“He didn't lose his timing,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “I thought his at-bats were good tonight. It's good to see him come out of the game and, you know, not feel sore, not have any issues with it. So that's a positive.”
Severino returned to the bump after being reinstated from the injury list for a strained left oblique.
Starting for the first time since Aug. 5, Severino tossed five scoreless, efficient innings needing just 61 pitches. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four, including the side in the second.
“Just like knowing in my mind that I have 65 pitches, I think from now on, that's going to be my mindset,” Severino said. “When I know that I have many pitches, I had to go out there and throw strikes. You know, get people out quick. So that was my main focus, not waste pitches. Just go out there and attack hitters.”
Severino helped himself get out of a jam in the third. After surrendering back-to-back singles giving the Cardinals runners on first and third with one out, Severino showed off quick feet with a pickoff of Nathan Church at first. It was his team-leading third pickoff of the season and the most by a right-handed A’s pitcher since Adam Oller also had three in 2022.
“Guys with quick feet, they can get the ball out of their hand quickly and get it over to the base, and we saw that tonight,” Kotsay said.
The start continued two positive trends for Severino.
First, he looked like the guy who found his groove in the four starts before his injury as he went 4-0 with a 3.13 ERA during that span. Severino became the first A’s pitcher to win four straight starts since Sean Manaea (Aug. 20-Sept. 10, 2020).
Severino also continued his dominance on the road, where he is 5-2 with a 2.94 ERA compared to 1-9 with a 6.34 ERA at home.
“I feel like I found myself again, throwing the pitches that I wanted to throw, commanding my pitches, not being afraid to [get] contact, just hitting the glove,” Severino said. “And I feel like before that, I was just trying to be too perfect, trying to just hit the corners, instead of just trusting my pitches.”
Severino’s return couldn’t come at a better time for the A’s, who lost both Jack Perkins (strained right shoulder) and Jacob Lopez (left flexor strain) from the rotation in the last week.
“It's always important when you get a guy that was an Opening Day starter back in your rotation,” Kotsay said. “He's coming off a really good run of starts up until he got hurt, so for him to pick back up where he left off was a nice sign.”
Unfortunately for the A’s, Iván Herrera’s two-run homer off Michael Kelly in the sixth proved to be the difference.
Still, getting Kurtz and Severino back should help the team finish strong against a tough schedule down the stretch.
“We believe that we have one of the best lineups in baseball, and with [Severino] back, our pitching staff is very young, and it's getting very good,” Kurtz said. “So it's good to see everyone healthy and everyone in action.”