Nick Kurtz blasts off again: A’s rookie hits 2nd walk-off home run in 4 games
The Athletics’ four-game series hosting the Houston Astros in West Sacramento kicked off with a bang on Monday night, with rookie Nick Kurtz launching a two-run, walk-off home run.
It ended in near-identical fashion Thursday night. Kurtz hit his second two-run, walk-off home run in four days and was mobbed again by teammates at home plate, as the A’s defeated the Astros 6-4 in 10 innings at Sutter Health Park.
Both were no-doubt bombs in which Kurtz flipped his bat in celebration immediately after hitting the ball. Thursday’s winning shot, launched off Astros closer Josh Hader in the 10th inning with the score tied 4-4 after the A’s blew a late three-run lead, soared over the fence in almost exactly straight-away center field. The ball traveled 416 feet, according to MLB.com.
The homer put a happy ending on a game in which the A’s blew a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning, when Astros catcher Victor Caratini hit a three-run blast off of A’s closer Mason Miller. That erased a winning decision for A’s starter Jacob Lopez, who allowed just one run in six innings pitched while striking out nine.
Kurtz’s home run marked his ninth of the year. A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson, a leading American League Rookie of the Year candidate who also leads his position after the first round of All-Star voting, also hit his ninth of the year.
The Astros (43-32) and A’s (31-46) ended up splitting the series. The A’s dropped the middle two games of the series after having won four straight contests, and are now 7-3 in their last 10.
The A’s will host the Cleveland Guardians (37-36) for a three-game series beginning 7:05 p.m. Friday.
