A’s pitcher ends ‘grind’ of a season in West Sacramento on a high note
Jeffrey Springs made his final start of 2025 for the Athletics on Tuesday night, earning his first win since July 30 and capping a season in which he set a series of career highs after undergoing “Tommy John” surgery in 2023.
“Finishing strong, finishing healthy, it’s kind of a blessing,” Springs said after the A’s 5-1 victory over the Houston Astros.
The A’s traded to acquire Springs from the Tampa Bay Rays last December to help fortify the top of their starting rotation while the left-hander was aiming to pitch his first full season since surgery to repair his throwing elbow. He finished the year making 32 appearances, including a career-high 30 starts and 171 innings, and was the A’s only regular starting pitcher not to miss an appearance.
On Tuesday, he allowed just one run on three hits over five innings, dealing the Astros their fourth straight loss while they battle to remain in the American League wild card chase. The loss put Houston a game back of the Cleveland Guardians for the third wild card spot.
‘Grind’ of pitching in a Triple-A ballpark
Coming back from the injury wasn’t Springs’ only battle. He said it was difficult adjusting to life at Sutter Health Park, the A’s temporary home in West Sacramento before moving to their new ballpark being built in Las Vegas, because it wasn’t the most friendly to fly ball pitchers. And the stadium with roughly a quarter the capacity of Major League stadiums requires players to bring their own juice.
“A little bit of a grind, mentally, physically,” Springs said. “Early on, the mental side of, ‘Hey, it counts as a big league game even though it’s not necessarily a big league environment.’ Whereas other places when you run out there on the field and you see three, four decks, it feels more like a big league stadium. You kind of play up to that, I guess. That’s the best way to put it. ... And we got used to it after a little bit. But it definitely was a little bit of a mental grind early on.”
Springs finished with a 4.81 ERA at Sutter Health Park compared to a 3.45 clip in 17 road appearances. Before Tuesday, hitters had an on-base plus slugging percentage of .788 against at home and .666 on the road.
The A’s starting rotation could see significant change in the offseason as the team tries to make a playoff push by improving its pitching to complement a lineup replete with talented hitters. Despite the struggles at home, Springs figures to be part of that equation and pitch better with a year at Sutter Health Park under his belt.
“The work he put in this offseason to be prepared once we traded for him, (there was) a constant line of communication with us about what he wanted to do this year and what he wanted to get accomplished,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “That’s a testament to his character and his drive and determination to go out and make this last start in this home stand, and perform the way he did, was awesome.”
A’s game started with temperature in the 90s
It was 91 degrees at first pitch, marking the eighth time a game has started at 90 or above in West Sacramento. The A’s came in tied for the fifth-most such home games in MLB this season. The high for the area was 98 degrees Tuesday afternoon.
The forecast highs for the final five days during the team’s last home stand of the season: 85, 87, 93, 86 and 78, meaning it’s likely the A’s played in 90-degree temperatures for the last time in 2025.
The A’s scored a run in the first inning when the Astros couldn’t corral a pop fly off the bat of Brent Rooker. Pitcher Cristian Javier tried to catch it but whiffed, while it appeared first baseman Christian Walker should have made the play. The A’s took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Darell Hernaiz drove in Jacob Wilson after he doubled.
Tyler Soderstrom made it a 3-1 game in the fifth with a ringing double to center, driving in Brett Harris to give him his team-leading 91st RBI of the season. It knocked out Javier after 4 2/3 innings. Soderstrom scored on Wilson’s single to push the A’s lead to three runs. The A’s made it 5-1 on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly from Carlos Cortes.
The two teams will play the second game of the series on Wednesday, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. The A’s will start right-hander Luis Severino (7-11, 4.72 ERA). Houston had not announced its starter.
