Deadspin | Jake Burger, Nathan Eovaldi steer Rangers to rout of A’s 
Apr 13, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger (right) gets a congratulatory handshake from designated hitter Joc Pederson (3) after hitting a solo home run against the Athletics during the third inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images Jake Burger hit two homers and drove four runs and Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven shutout innings to help the Texas Rangers record an 8-1 victory over the Athletics on Monday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Josh Smith and Josh Jung each drove in two runs in the eighth inning as the Rangers broke the game open while winning the opener of a four-game series. Joc Pederson had three of Texas’ 11 hits.
Eovaldi (2-2) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out seven as the Rangers earned their second straight win and fifth in the past seven. The 36-year-old threw just 84 pitches and lowered his ERA from 7.98 to 5.40.
Lawrence Butler homered in the eighth for the A’s, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Luis Severino (0-2) allowed four runs and six hits — including both of Burger’s homers — over six innings to continue his struggles at Sutter Health Park. He struck out seven and walked three.
Severino, who ripped the home ballpark last June, is now 2-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 16 starts at the facility.
Severino issued one-out walks in the first inning to Evan Carter and Corey Seager before Burger came up and ripped a 1-1 sinker over the fence in left-center to give Texas a quick 3-0 lead.
His next time up, leading off the third, Burger went the opposite way with a 1-1 sinker and deposited the ball over the fence in right. It was Burger’s fourth career homer off Severino and the eighth two-homer game of his career.
Seager nearly had a homer in the fifth inning, but his drive to right-center was caught above the short wall by Butler.
The Rangers were helped by some good fortune during their four-run eighth inning that blew the game open.
Seager led off with a ground-rule double, and one out later, Pederson hit a bouncer up the middle that Athletics shortstop Jack Wilson was in position to field. However, second base umpire Edwin Jimenez was hit by the ball, giving Pederson an infield hit with Seager moving to third.
After Kyle Higashioka walked to load the bases against Jack Perkins, Smith delivered a two-run single to make it 6-0 and Jung followed with a two-run double for an eight-run bulge.
Butler’s one-out homer to right in the bottom of the eighth came off Luis Curvelo.
–Field Level Media
#Deadspin #Jake #Burger #Nathan #Eovaldi #steer #Rangers #rout
Apr 13, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger (right) gets a congratulatory handshake from designated hitter Joc Pederson (3) after hitting a solo home run against the Athletics during the third inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images Jake Burger hit two homers and drove four runs and Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven shutout innings to help the Texas Rangers record an 8-1 victory over the Athletics on Monday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Josh Smith and Josh Jung each drove in two runs in the eighth inning as the Rangers broke the game open while winning the opener of a four-game series. Joc Pederson had three of Texas’ 11 hits.
Eovaldi (2-2) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out seven as the Rangers earned their second straight win and fifth in the past seven. The 36-year-old threw just 84 pitches and lowered his ERA from 7.98 to 5.40.
Lawrence Butler homered in the eighth for the A’s, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Luis Severino (0-2) allowed four runs and six hits — including both of Burger’s homers — over six innings to continue his struggles at Sutter Health Park. He struck out seven and walked three.
Severino, who ripped the home ballpark last June, is now 2-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 16 starts at the facility.
Severino issued one-out walks in the first inning to Evan Carter and Corey Seager before Burger came up and ripped a 1-1 sinker over the fence in left-center to give Texas a quick 3-0 lead.
His next time up, leading off the third, Burger went the opposite way with a 1-1 sinker and deposited the ball over the fence in right. It was Burger’s fourth career homer off Severino and the eighth two-homer game of his career.
Seager nearly had a homer in the fifth inning, but his drive to right-center was caught above the short wall by Butler.
The Rangers were helped by some good fortune during their four-run eighth inning that blew the game open.
Seager led off with a ground-rule double, and one out later, Pederson hit a bouncer up the middle that Athletics shortstop Jack Wilson was in position to field. However, second base umpire Edwin Jimenez was hit by the ball, giving Pederson an infield hit with Seager moving to third.
After Kyle Higashioka walked to load the bases against Jack Perkins, Smith delivered a two-run single to make it 6-0 and Jung followed with a two-run double for an eight-run bulge.
Butler’s one-out homer to right in the bottom of the eighth came off Luis Curvelo.
–Field Level Media
![Suryansh Shedge: Should have stayed longer because I was set Spending time in the middle was the mantra for Suryansh Shedge, whose 57 off 29 balls had temporarily seemed to have dragged Punjab Kings out of the woods on Sunday.The visitor eventually lost by four wickets against the Gujarat Titans, but Shedge, having waited for long to pounce on an opportunity, got much-needed gametime.“I wouldn’t say I was waiting. I was preparing. So, I look at it from that perspective that whenever I’m thrown into a situation, I should be ready for that. I’ve been speaking to Ricky [Ponting] sir a lot. I’ve been speaking to our captain a lot because I know him. The only thing they tell me is whenever the opportunity knocks, you have to be ready and take it with both hands. So that’s what I tried to do,” Shedge said.“It’s just sometimes some batters get good balls and they get out. But my only intention was to spend as much time as I could. And that, I think, made things easier as I progressed through the innings.”Despite being his side’s best batter and getting it to a competitive 163 on a two-paced wicket, Shedge took responsibility for the loss.“That 7.5-metre length was difficult to play. I think it was a bit two-paced because of the grass and the black soil. And I think at the end of the day, if we would have saved some runs here and there, we would have ended up winning the game. But I put my hand up. I think I should have stayed there because I was set. And if I would have let that ball go [from Kagiso Rabada], things would have been different,” Shedge said.Published on May 04, 2026 #Suryansh #Shedge #stayed #longer #set](https://i0.wp.com/ss-i.thgim.com/public/incoming/s7dydp/article70937916.ece/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1200/VIS_2885.JPG?ssl=1 "Suryansh Shedge: Should have stayed longer because I was set Spending time in the middle was the mantra for Suryansh Shedge, whose 57 off 29 balls had temporarily seemed to have dragged Punjab Kings out of the woods on Sunday.The visitor eventually lost by four wickets against the Gujarat Titans, but Shedge, having waited for long to pounce on an opportunity, got much-needed gametime.“I wouldn’t say I was waiting. I was preparing. So, I look at it from that perspective that whenever I’m thrown into a situation, I should be ready for that. I’ve been speaking to Ricky [Ponting] sir a lot. I’ve been speaking to our captain a lot because I know him. The only thing they tell me is whenever the opportunity knocks, you have to be ready and take it with both hands. So that’s what I tried to do,” Shedge said.“It’s just sometimes some batters get good balls and they get out. But my only intention was to spend as much time as I could. And that, I think, made things easier as I progressed through the innings.”Despite being his side’s best batter and getting it to a competitive 163 on a two-paced wicket, Shedge took responsibility for the loss.“That 7.5-metre length was difficult to play. I think it was a bit two-paced because of the grass and the black soil. And I think at the end of the day, if we would have saved some runs here and there, we would have ended up winning the game. But I put my hand up. I think I should have stayed there because I was set. And if I would have let that ball go [from Kagiso Rabada], things would have been different,” Shedge said.Published on May 04, 2026 #Suryansh #Shedge #stayed #longer #set")
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