Athletics drop series opener to Rangers 8-5

Not the way you want to start the homestand

The Athletics dropped the series opener against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday evening at Sutter Health Park, falling to their division rivals 8-5 in their first matchup of the 2025 season.

On the mound to get this game started was Osvaldo Bido. Making his fifth start for the club Bido came into this game on an absolute roll. His ERA sat at an impressive 2.61 mark and the righty had gone at least five innings in each of his four outings entering tonight.

As has become almost expected when the A’s are at home this year, the visiting team jumped out to a lead from the get go. Texas collected a hit and walk to start the game and those were followed by an RBI double from Adolis Garcia and a sac fly from former Athletic Marcus Semien. Not the start to the homestand the team and Bido were hoping for.

The A’s got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second. Facing veteran left-hander Patrick Corbin, left fielder Miguel Andujar took a breaking ball that was meant to be in the dirt and golfed it over the left field wall for a solo homer:

That blast was Andujar’s second of the year and halved the Texas lead. The former top prospect would collect two more hits tonight to up his batting average to .319 after 23 games, a pleasant and welcome surprise for the lineup. They need to keep his bat in the lineup even with the imminent arrival of Nick Kurtz.

Texas immediately got that run back the next inning as Bido couldn’t provide a shutdown inning. A mistake on his second pitch of the third inning was deposited over the wall in left center by Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford to give his team the breathing room back.

Just like Bido though, Corbin couldn’t provide his team a shutdown frame as he made a mistake pitch to A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler to make it a one-run game yet again:

That was Butler’s third homer this season and his first at Sutter Health. Butler would add on a walk and stolen base later in the evening to boot and after a slow start to the year is now hitting .316 with three home runs over his past 15 games.

The fourth inning provided little drama as both teams put up donuts (though Shea Langeliers collected a hit and his first stolen base of the season). Bido had finally posted a 1-2-3 inning but that just preceded disaster. Texas was all over him in the fifth, hitting a leadoff solo homer to start the inning and then seeing old friend Marcus Semien punch us in the gut with a 3-run home run to make it a 7-2 game. Bido managed to finish the inning and even came out for the top of the sixth but the first pitch of the frame was also hit over the wall for another home run. Bido collected one more out to finish his day on a high note but manager Mark Kotsay had to finally pull the plug on Bido’s day.

• Osvaldo Bido: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 4 HR, 91 pitches

That was easily the worst outing of the season for Bido. He saw his season ERA rise over two full points after tonight, going from 2.61 to 4.85 after this drubbing. He had also entered tonight having surrendered one home run all year before allowing four long balls tonight. Bido needs to flush this one and forget about it as soon as possible. His next scheduled start should line up for the home stand finale against the Chicago White Sox, which represents an excellent bounce back opportunity.

The A’s were in a real hole and needed to start chipping away at that massive 6-run deficit. Corbin managed to subdue the Athletics’ offense for five innings as they managed just the pair of solo homers against the veteran. Once they were into the Texas bullpen they began to have a bit more luck. The A’s loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with Butler at the plate but the second-year outfielder struck out swinging in a big spot.

The next couple innings went a bit better for the A’s. Designated hitter Brent Rooker walked to open the bottom of the seventh before getting to third on Andujar’s third hit of the night. Center fielder JJ Bleday strode to the plate with runners on the corners with two outs and came through for the A’s by cashing in at least one run with a bloop single to left. Then the eighth saw second baseman Luis Urias hit his second home run in an Athletics uniform. He was followed a couple batters later by Rooker going yard for his seventh long ball of the season, fitting considering he was given his 2024 Silver Slugger in a pre-game ceremony:

Suddenly the A’s were down a manageable three runs heading into the ninth. Sadly the comeback was not meant to be tonight as the A’s went down in order in the final frame to finish the game, starting the homestand on a losing note.

Another home game, another home loss. The team is now a miserable 2-8 at Sutter Health Park in their first season in Sacramento. The team is now 10-13 and firmly in sole possession of last place in the AL West. Bido did not look anything like the Bido we’ve seen this year while the bats were less than impressive against a 35-year old veteran on a minor league deal. And to add insult to injury, Atletics reliever Jose Leclerc left tonight’s game with obvious pain in his shoulder. An IL stay seems likely for the offseason addition.

On the plus side Miguel Andujar continues to rake and is really finding his groove at the plate. Brent Rooker went yard and is also starting to heat up at the plate. Center fielder JJ Bleday and second baseman Luis Urias get honorable mentions as well for their 2-hit days.

The Athletics will continue their series tomorrow evening, same time same place. The pitching matchup will feature A’s lefty JP Sears on the mound versus Rangers rookie right-hander Kumar Rocker. That’s not the real story of tomorrow’s contest though. Tomorrow is the day A’s fans have been waiting for as star prospect Nick Kurtz will finally join the active roster and make his major league debut. Should be one to remember!