A's Smash Homers, Take AL West Lead

0:00On April 25th, the Oakland A's made history Friday night, smashing three home runs in the top of the first inning for the first time ever in a road. Game, powering them to an 8-1 route of the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. That explosion put the A's alone in first place in the American League West after they entered the series tied atop the division. Nick Kurtz kicked it off with a 4-17-foot bomb on the first pitch, clocked at 115.9 mph exit. Velocity tying the A's hardest hit Homer since tracking started in 2015. Carlos Cortez and Tyler Soderstrom followed quick, crushing back-to-back shots in the first seven pitches total, combining for over 1200. 22 feet of distance traveled. Coming in, the A's had the worst first inning offense in baseball, outscored 19-4 with zero homers through 25 games. They did this against Nathan Eolvaldi, who owned a 2.5 for ERA in 15 starts versus Oakland, including a shutout gym earlier this season.

1:05Cortez kept the party going with a second homer, a three-run jack in the fifth, while Starter Luis Severino delivered his best outing yet, going six. And two-thirds innings with just one run allowed, five strikeouts, and one walk. A slick catch by Zach Gelliff and center sealed the deal, robbing a deep fly to in the fifth, and now the A's hit pretty leading the West with momentum. Building as this series rolls on, stay tuned with MLB News Today, AI-powered updates.