ARLINGTON, Texas — The Oakland Athletics delivered a stunning opening blow to the Texas Rangers Friday evening, launching three consecutive solo home runs during the game’s first inning.
Within just seven pitches of the contest, Nick Kurtz, Carlos Cortes, and Tyler Soderstrom — occupying three of the initial four spots in the batting order — each sent balls over the outfield fence.
Kurtz connected on Nathan Eovaldi’s opening delivery, driving it beyond the right-field barrier. Cortes followed with his own blast to right field, while Soderstrom connected on his initial offering, sending it to straightaway center field.
The Athletics hadn’t achieved three first-inning home runs since their July 8 matchup against the Atlanta Braves, when all three came off pitcher Didier Fuentes.
Eovaldi had previously dominated Oakland’s lineup during their April 13 encounter in California, blanking the A’s across seven innings while allowing just three hits in Texas’s 8-1 triumph. Coming into Friday’s game, the veteran right-hander boasted a 2.54 career earned run average against Oakland — his best mark against any team he had faced at least six times.
During his most recent outing, Eovaldi surrendered four runs, with two being earned, across five innings of work in Seattle.
