Springs leads Athletics to 5-1 win over Guardians
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jeffrey Springs allowed three hits in a season-high 7 1/3 innings, rookie Nick Kurtz homered for a third straight game and the Athletics beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-1 on Friday night.
Springs (6-5) struck out six and walked one, throwing 104 pitches for his first win since May 13. He left with a 4-1 lead after giving up Angel Martínez's homer.
Kurtz followed a two-out single by Brent Rooker with his 10th home run — a 406-foot shot to left-center field — to give the Athletics the lead against Guardians starter Tanner Bibee (4-7).
Tyler Soderstrom singled leading off the second and two straight fielding errors by José Ramírez at third loaded the bases. Lawrence Butler singled for a 3-0 lead.
Wilson had a two-out RBI single for a 4-0 lead in the seventh. Soderstrom singled with two outs in the eighth, stole his fifth base and scored on Luis Urías' single for the final run.
Michael Kelly got the final two outs in the eighth and Mason Miller pitched the ninth, closing out the four-hitter with help from another dazzling catch by Denzel Clarke.
Bibee allowed five runs — four earned — on 11 hits with season highs of eight innings and 10 strikeouts.
The Athletics have won six of their last eight.
Key moment
Cleveland never recovered after Kurtz homered for the fifth time in his last six games and the ninth time in his last 15.
Key stat
Kurtz, who played his first game on April 23, is the only player to hit four home runs in the ninth inning or later in a five-game span of a single season. He is one of five players age 22 or younger to hit two walk-off homers in a calendar month.
Up next
Guardians RHP L.L. Ortiz (3-8, 4.64 ERA) starts Saturday opposite Athletics RHP Mitch Spence (2-1, 3.50).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Aaron Nesmith puts Chet Holmgren on poster with insane putback
The post Aaron Nesmith puts Chet Holmgren on poster with insane putback appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Indiana Pacers will be facing elimination following their 120-109 Game 5 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. One thing the Pacers have going for them is Game 6 will be on their home court. And in the midst of the Pacers trying to spark a late rally in Game 5, Aaron Nesmith had one of the highlights of the night with an insane poster dunk on Thunder big man Chet Holmgren. Advertisement Aaron Nesmith's poster dunk on Chet Holmgren came late in the fourth quarter as the Pacers trailed the Thunder by double digits. The dunk cut the Thunder lead to 120-105 with about two and a half minutes remaining. But the Pacers would only score two more points the rest of the way and would fall despite the Thunder not scoring any points from that point on. If the Pacers want to keep their season alive and extend the NBA Finals to deciding Game 7, they'll need strong production from players like Nesmith. He gave the Pacers a solid performance in Game 5 finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and one steal while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from the three-point line in a little over 24 minutes. His poster dunk on Holmgren was the only non three-point shot he hit. During the Pacers playoff run so far, Nesmith had been averaging a playoff career-high 13.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists with splits of 47.9 percent shooting from the field, 49.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 87.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Now in his third season with the Pacers, Nesmith has developed into one of the Pacers' most dependable role players on both ends of the court. This season, he shot a career-high 43.1 percent from the three-point line. The No. 14 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Nesmith was acquired by the Pacers in a trade with the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2022-23 season. Related: Pacers' Pascal Siakam gives Tyrese Haliburton '100%' support after woeful Game 5 Related: Pacers' Myles Turner drops unfazed 'best time of year' take despite rough Game 5 loss
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
MLB games today: Schedule, times, how to watch for June 21
Here is the full Major League Baseball schedule for June 21 and how to watch all the games. Or see our sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division. MLB schedule today All times Eastern and accurate as of Saturday, June 21, 2025, at 4:41 a.m. MLB scores, results MLB scores for June 21 games are available on Here's how to access today's results: See scores, results for all the games listed above. See MLB Scores, results from June 20 Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. If you make a purchase through our links, we may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change. This schedule was generated automatically using information from Stats Perform and a template written and reviewed by a USA TODAY Sports editor. You can send feedback using this form. Gambling involves risk. Please only gamble with funds that you can comfortably afford to lose. While we do our utmost to offer good advice and information we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of gambling. We do our best to make sure all the information that we provide on this site is correct. However, from time to time mistakes will be made and we will not be held liable. Please check any stats or information if you are unsure how accurate they are. No guarantees are made with regards to results or financial gain. All forms of betting carry financial risk and it is up to the individual to make bets with or without the assistance of information provided on this site and we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of following the betting tips provided on this site. Past performances do not guarantee success in the future and betting odds fluctuate from one minute to the next. The material contained on this site is intended to inform, entertain and educate the reader and in no way represents an inducement to gamble legally or illegally or any sort of professional advice. Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside. It is your sole responsibility to act in accordance with your local laws.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rafael Devers goes 0-for-5 in first game vs. Red Sox since blockbuster trade
When the Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, they did it knowing they would be facing their disgruntled former player in just five days. That game arrived on Friday. Taking the field only as a designated hitter, but with first base in his future, Devers failed to make his old team pay, going 0-for-5 at the plate in a 7-5 loss. He did receive a nice ovation before his first at-bat, though. Devers' hitless night wasn't for lack of balls in play. He managed to lift a ball to the left-field wall in the third inning, but was robbed of an extra-base hit by former teammate Ceddane Rafaela. Devers finished his night with his lone strikeout, swinging and missing at a 102-mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman. He is now 3-for-16 with one double four games into his Giants career. Devers met with reporters before the game to discuss the reunion, though he mostly indicated a desire to move on after a very public falling out with the Red Sox front office. Advertisement Devers was the longest-tenured player on the team and in the early years of a team-record 10-year, $313.5 million contract, but made his displeasure public in spring training when it became clear the Red Sox wanted to move him off third base in favor of new arrival Alex Bregman, a Gold Glover at the position. The matter appeared to settle when Devers agreed to transition to designated hitter — a potentially temporary move given that Bregman can opt out of his deal this winter — but the hurt feelings came back when the Red Sox asked if he could cover first base after a season-ending injury to Triston Casas. Devers declined, then said a lot of things to reporters you can't take back. Boston traded him a month later. Rafael Devers didn't want to play first base for the Red Sox. Or he didn't want to say "yes" after how they asked him. (Photo by Darren Yamashita/MLB Photos via Getty Images) (Darren Yamashita via Getty Images) Speaking on Friday, Devers didn't say much he hadn't already said during his introduction with the Giants, but he did make one notable claim, via NBC Sports Boston: 'I would say that I put some good numbers up in Boston, and I think that I do feel that I have earned some respect,' Devers told reporters through an interpreter at Oracle Park. 'If they would have asked me at the beginning of spring training, yes, I would have played.' Advertisement Obviously, the Red Sox weren't going to ask Devers to play first base while Casas was still healthy. However, those comments show how much further this dispute went beyond a simple position change. As the Red Sox brass indicated the day after the trade, the conflict ultimately came down to communication and personality. In the meantime, Devers has been taking grounders at first base since he arrived in San Francisco, but won't make his debut at the position this weekend.
