Butler's bat stays hot, A's identify silver linings to road trip split

ARLINGTON -- Lawrence Butler is enjoying one of the hottest stretches in baseball, and he¡¯s showing no signs of cooling off anytime soon.

One day after joining Aaron Judge and Juan Soto as just the third player in MLB to homer six times over a five-game stretch this season, Butler notched a career-high four hits to extend his career-best hitting streak to 11 games in Sunday¡¯s 6-4 extra-inning loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

Making his first appearance back in Arlington since his electric scoreless inning in the All-Star Game in July, flamethrowing closer Mason Miller was unable to hold a two-run lead in the 10th. After Seth Brown¡¯s triple and a double by Zack Gelof plated two runs in the top of the 10th, Miller, who kept the game tied with a scoreless ninth, came back out for the bottom of the 10th and surrendered a walk and two hits, all with two outs, ending on a walk-off three-run blast by Josh Jung.

¡°It¡¯s going to sit with me for a little while,¡± said Miller, who had converted each of his previous 11 save opportunities dating back to June 18. ¡°I can¡¯t really go out to the mound the next time I go out thinking about this. I just tip my hat. I think the pitch [to Jung] was up and out, but everything that led to getting there, there was a lot of things that contributed to it.¡±

The defeat marked Oakland¡¯s first road series loss since July 9-11 against the Red Sox. In between that, the A¡¯s entered Sunday holding the best road record in the American League since July 12 at 13-7.

It was a rough conclusion to a six-game road trip that was difficult to grasp. The A¡¯s went 3-3 against the Reds and Rangers, with all three losses ending in walk-offs.

¡°We easily could have been 6-0 on this road trip,¡± manager Mark Kotsay said. ¡°That¡¯s just baseball. You¡¯ve got to finish it off and get that last out. Overall, a split on this road trip, it doesn¡¯t feel great, but it¡¯s not a losing road trip.¡±

Before the A¡¯s return to the Coliseum to begin a seven-game homestand on Monday, here are some takeaways from the series finale:

The Butler and Rooker Show
For as incredible of a run as Butler has been on, teammate Brent Rooker is not far behind. Rooker also tied a career high with four hits on Sunday, getting the A¡¯s on the board with an RBI single in the fifth.

Rooker finished the three-game series by going 8-for-13 with two homers, a double and four RBIs. Butler, meanwhile, is batting .435 (20-for-46) over his 11-game hitting streak. Together, the two have formed quite the potent 1-2 punch atop the A¡¯s lineup.

¡°Those two guys are really locked in,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°They¡¯ve carried the offense through August and started in July. It¡¯s been impressive to watch these two continue to have the success they¡¯re having.¡±

Gelof closing in on 20-20
It has not been the ideal year for Gelof, who is enduring a bit of a sophomore slump after a breakout 2023 rookie campaign. As the season approaches its end, however, Gelof is enjoying his best sustained stretch of success at the plate.

Entering Sunday hitting .256 (20-for-78) over his last 22 games, Gelof added two more doubles and swiped his 20th bag. Sitting at 16 home runs, Gelof is within reach of becoming the first A¡¯s player to reach 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in a season since Coco Crisp in 2013.

¡°The goal for Zack was to continue to make this progress,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°Today¡¯s at-bats, the [double] to the right side is when you know he¡¯s swinging the bat well. ¡­ He¡¯s still grinding and playing the game with a lot of fight. He wants to finish strong.¡±

First week for Wilson
Returning on Tuesday from a hamstring injury that occurred shortly after collecting his first Major League hit during his big league debut in July, A¡¯s No. 1 prospect Jacob Wilson flashed some of his exciting tools throughout this road trip, including Sunday, as he roped a double down the left-field line to set up Oakland¡¯s first run and initiated a swift 6-4-3 double play in the fourth.

¡°He doesn¡¯t look like the game is too fast for him,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°Sometimes you get young players up here and the game speeds up. I think his clock is pretty good right now in terms of game speed. The at-bats have been good. ¡­ He¡¯s made some nice plays at short.¡±