Cortes Crushes Red Sox, Severino Struggles Against Tigers

A number of A's players were in action for their national clubs on Tuesday

Aug 21, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Athletics right fielder Carlos Cortes (26) hits an RBI single against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The World Baseball Classic officially begins today with the clubs that are playing in Pool C in Tokyo, but the clubs in the other three groups were able to get in some games against Major League Baseball clubs on Tuesday. The A's have 12 different players on their national team rosters, and a pair of them stood out in the exhibition contests.

Carlos Cortes, who is fighting for a spot as a fourth or fifth outfield option for the A's, was batting cleanup for the Puerto Rican team on Tuesday, taking on the Boston Red Sox.

In the first inning, Cortes took a sinker off the plate into left field, pushing Nolan Arenado to third base for his first hit of the day. Two wild pitches would push Cortes to third, and he would come around to score on a sac-fly. In between those wild pitches, Darell Hernaiz, who's fighting for the third base role with the A's (and batting fifth for Puerto Rico), drew a walk.

If Arenado had approved that trade to the A's over the offseason, then they would have been rolling with the heart of the Puerto Rican lineup yesterday.

In the top of the third inning, Cortes singled again to lead off the frame, and Hernaiz would push him to third on a groundout. An Emmanuel Rivera double scored Cortes, giving the away team a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Cortes singled in his final at-bat, pushing the runner to third, but the inning would end after a Hernaiz fielder's choice that cut down the runner at home, and a MJ Melendez double play ball. Christian Vázquez would pinch hit for Cortes in the top of the seventh and serve as the team's DH. Hernaiz ended up going 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.

Both A's players are attempting to make their case to be on the A's Opening Day roster when the team heads to Toronto, and playing in the World Baseball Classic could play into their favor if they're able to rack up hits against some of the toughest competition in the world.

Puerto Rico ended up with the win, 5-3.

Severino slips up against Detroit

Feb 20, 2026; Mesa, AZ, USA; Athletics pitcher Luis Severino (40) poses for Photo Day at HoHoKam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

How well Luis Severino performs in 2026 could have a big impact on the A's fortunes this season. In his first appearance of the spring, he looked tremendous, tossing two scoreless innings, giving up one hit, walking one and striking out three. He was also sitting in the upper 90's while utilizing all of his pitches.

On Tuesday his results weren't quite as good against the Tigers, but he was also using just three of his six pitches, according to the Statcast data. He ran with his four-seam fastball, changeup and slider, which were his most-used pitch a year ago (28%) followed by his two least used offerings at 5.3% and 4%. Against righties, he was just fastball-changeup.

His final line was two innings, giving up five hits, two earned runs, no walks, one strikeout, and a solo home run to the No. 2 prospect in baseball, Kevin McGonigle.

The Dominican Republic ended up blowing out the Tigers, 12-4.

Other A's in WBC action

• Denzel Clarke went 1-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two strikeouts in Canada's 10-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Brayan Buelvas went 1-for-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts in Colombia's 7-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

• Joey Meneses came off the bench at first base for Team Mexico, going 0-for-1 in their 6-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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