Jacob Wilson, Nick Kurtz Make History Against Los Angeles Dodgers

May 13, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) is greeted by third base coach Eric Martins (3) after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Athletics came into their series with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the best road team (13-7) in the big leagues, while the Dodgers were the best home team (15-3). In the opening game, it was the A's offense that showed up to play Tuesday, with the green and gold using three home runs from their young guns to help propel them to an 11-1 win.

Former No. 1 prospect Jacob Wilson recorded the first multi-homer game of his career in a 4-for-5 effort, his second four-hit game in less than a week. He finished with four RBI, two runs scored, and has pushed his average on the season to .363 with a .389 OBP. He is no longer the A's top prospect after accruing enough service time at the start of the season.

That title now belongs to Nick Kurtz, who slugged the first home run of his big-league career off veteran J.P. Feyereisen. Kurtz has looked more comfortable in the box over the past week or so and has been driving the ball a bit more of late, so this long fly was only a matter of time. It will be the first of many.

NICK KURTZ FIRST CAREER HR!!! pic.twitter.com/0n9p3QCXuw

— Athletics (@Athletics) May 14, 2025

Miguel Andujar and JJ Bleday would join the home run brigade in the top of the ninth with infielder Miguel Rojas on the bump.

Tyler Soderstrom was the only A's bat to not record a hit in this one, going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. Catcher Shea Langeliers continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-4 night. Over his last seven games, he's now 10-for-25 (.400), and has bumped his average on the year up to .255.

As we wrote about a couple of weeks back, Shea's expected stats are well above his actual stats. The past week they have been starting to merge, though he's still expected for a .281 batting average based off the contact he's been making. He's also nearly cut his strikeout rate in half, down from 27.2% last season to 14.3% so far this year.

The other big hit in this one was from Lawrence Butler, who has been hitting down in the order after beginning the season in the leadoff spot. Since the drop down the lineup, he has started making harder contact as well. Batting fifth, Butler went 2-for-5 which included a two RBI double that really broke the game open for the A's, taking it from 4-1 to 6-1.

While the offense was certainly on display on Tuesday night, it was Jeffrey Springs that continued to pitch well on the road, snagging his fifth win on the year while tossing seven innings of one-run ball. He allowed six hits, two walks, and struck out four. On the road the lefty is now 4-1 with a 2.73 ERA in five starts.

This is exactly the kind of game the A's needed to set them up for success in the series. They got to the Dodger bullpen in the fifth, and also largely conserved their own bullpen for the next two games. Of course, Wednesday's starter, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is going to be extremely difficult to score off, so best-case scenario is that tomorrow will be determined by the bullpens.

The A's are scheduled to roll with Gunnar Hoglund, who will be making just the third start of his MLB career, though he has been impressive in his first two outings to date, going 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a huge test for the A's at this point in the season, and facing them at home is no joke. This was certainly a big win for the A's to begin the road trip, and with the win, they are now 3-4 to begin one of their toughest stretches of the season, facing the Seattle Mariners (1-2), New York Yankees (1-2), Dodgers (1-0) and San Francisco Giants.