Nick Kurtz has 2 different streaks going as he powers A’s past Giants in West Sac
Nick Kurtz had a lot to live up to after unanimously winning American League Rookie of the Year for the Athletics in 2025.
The slugging first baseman came into 2026 with the weight of All-Star expectations after looking like one of baseball’s best hitters in his Major League debut. The power numbers were slightly down; his slugging percentage before Friday was .477 compared to last year’s robust .619.
But Kurtz has homered in three straight games, and his three-run blast in Friday’s 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants swung the contest in the A’s favor. It came while trailing 2-1 in the fifth inning and gave him his eighth home run of the season. He finished with 36 last year, while his eighth didn’t come until June 18. Kurtz has nine RBIs in his last four games and is up to 29 on the year.
“He’s a big man,” said Darren Bush, the A’s hitting coach who served as interim manager on Friday. “He has a lot of bat speed.”
The A’s won Friday in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,348 at Sutter Health Park that was, predictably, loaded with Giants fans.
The Giants are still the more popular team in the region, but the team making West Sacramento its temporary home has gotten off to a better start, sitting at 23-21 and in first place in the AL West division while the Giants fell to 18-27 — the second-worst record in the National League, with the worst run differential in all of MLB (minus-48).
Bush took over the manager’s seat Friday while Mark Kotsay attended his daughter’s college graduation from USC. He’s expected to return to the club for Saturday’s second game of the series.
All three of Kurtz’s home runs during dating back to Wednesday have gone to left-center field, which his coaches say is a sign he’s locked in.
“When you have the ability to leave the yard in all fields, it gives you confidence,” Bush said. “You don’t have to try to do too much. Now, you trust your approach even more. ... I just have to get a good pitch and put my swing on it, and I’m going to shrink my zone inside the strike zone, and I’m going to make them pitch in the zone.”
First pitch for the second game of the series 6:40 p.m. Saturday in West Sacramento. The A’s will send ace Luis Severino (2-4, 4.07 ERA) to the mound, while the Giants will counter with right-hander Trevor McDonald (1-0 2.92).
Kurtz on-base streak closes in on A’s history
With his home run, Kurtz extended his streak of reaching base to an MLB-high 38 straight games. He’s two games from tying Jack Cust’s 40-game mark from Aug. 28, 2008 to April 18, 2009, for the A’s franchise record. The home run was all his seventh straight hit with runners in scoring position, which includes his grand slam from Wednesday win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Kurtz said there wasn’t a specific adjustment that led to his power streak. He’s been working with Bush to get back to the more consistent power he showed at the end of last season when he hit nine home runs in September.
He led baseball with 18 opposite-field home runs last season and has four so far in 2026.
“Trust me, I’ve been trying all year,” Kurtz said when asked about his home runs going to left-center. “It’s finally starting to come together a little bit.
“I think it’s good that I don’t have to try to swing out of my shoes to try to yank the ball down the line to hit a home run,” Kurtz continued. “If you do that, you might get one and the rest of your at-bats may go down the gutter. It’s hard to replicate that swing and use the whole field.”
The A’s got on the board first when Jeff McNeil drove in Zack Gelof with an RBI double in the second inning, though they missed out on a chance at more runs because Darrell Hernaiz was thrown out trying to score from first. The Giants tied it in the fourth with the first home run of the season from second baseman Luis Arraez.
Susac back with Giants
Giants catcher Daniel Susac, the Sacramento native who was back in the lineup after rehabbing an elbow injury, threw out his old roommate while Henry Bolte trying to steal second to end the fourth inning.
The two roomed together as minor leaguers in the A’s organization before the A’s lost Susac when they didn’t protect him in the Rule 5 draft in the offseason despite drafting him in the first round in 2022.
Giants center fielder Harrison Bader hit a solo home run in the fifth to give the Giants a 2-1 lead, his third of the year. A’s starter Aaron Civale improved to 5-1 by throwing five innings and allowing two runs.
Former 49ers star in the house
A one-time San Francisco 49ers defensive force and a Sacramento native who played for Pleasant Grove High in Elk Grove, Arik Armstead threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Friday night’s game at Sutter Health Park.
Armstead, 32, joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024 after nine seasons with the 49ers.
His foundation, the Armstead Academic Project, supports students from lower socioeconomic status households in the Sacramento area and Bay Area.
