SEATTLE ¨C Opening the 2025 season by splitting a series on the road against an American League West foe, especially one that swept them over the final three games of 2024, would have been a solid enough statement for the Athletics.
That¡¯s why, as frustrating as it was to miss out on starting a season with a record 3-1 for the first time since 2020, the A¡¯s took the positives from a four-game split with the Mariners following Sunday¡¯s 2-1 loss at T-Mobile Park.
¡°We had a chance to win all four games,¡± manager Mark Kotsay said. ¡°First night, tough loss. Last two games, we played well and came out on top. Today, one at-bat changed the game.¡±
The A¡¯s were essentially an inning and a pitch away from a four-game sweep. Thursday¡¯s season opener was undone by a one-run lead squandered by Jos¨¦ Leclerc, who surrendered a pair of backbreaking eighth-inning home runs.
On Sunday, starter JP Sears was masterful outside of one sixth-inning slider left over the zone that Julio Rodr¨ªguez hammered for a two-run blast, flipping a one-run A¡¯s lead to a one-run deficit.
¡°He threw the ball really well outside of the one pitch to J-Rod,¡± Kotsay said of Sears. ¡°Tough loss for him. The result doesn¡¯t show how well he threw the ball today.¡±
The starting rotation has been on a run of excellence to begin the season. From Luis Severino's six scoreless innings on Opening Day to Sears¡¯ 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball on Sunday, A¡¯s starters have combined for just three earned runs on 14 hits with 26 strikeouts across 23 2/3 innings.
¡°It¡¯s contagious,¡± Sears said. ¡°You go out there and you want to do what the guys before you did, or top that. We¡¯ve got a good group of starters that bounce off each other. We¡¯re each different, but we can help each other out.¡±
Despite allowing the most runs of any starter yet, you could argue Sears¡¯ outing on Sunday was the best of the bunch. He was dotting his pitches throughout and consistently getting ahead in counts with first-pitch strikes. Even after the go-ahead homer by Rodr¨ªguez, Sears went right back to pounding the zone. His other four hits allowed were singles, he did not issue a walk and he finished with seven strikeouts.
Sears worked diligently this spring to improve the quality of his sweeper, and also added a slider that allows him to contest both sides of the plate against lefties and righties. On Sunday, 78 of his 91 total pitches were either a fastball, slider or sweeper, and those three offerings combined to generate all 11 of his whiffs.
¡°I felt like I had pretty good command of the strike zone all day,¡± Sears said. ¡°I threw a lot of good sweepers for a first strike to get ahead and used my fastball better later in the game. ¡ I was just going with what was working today.¡±
There is a Bryan Woo problem for the A¡¯s that remains tough to crack. Outside of a solo shot by Tyler Soderstrom, who has now homered in three of the A¡¯s first four games and carries an 11-game hitting streak against the Mariners, Woo silenced the offense with six innings of one-run ball.
Through seven starts against the A¡¯s, Woo now carries a 0.72 ERA in 37 2/3 innings.
¡°He¡¯s the same guy,¡± Kotsay said of Woo. ¡°We¡¯ve struggled hitting the fastball against him. He¡¯s effective with mixing the two fastballs. We have our challenges in front of us with him and trying to figure him out.¡±
That challenge will wait until at least May, when these two division rivals meet again for a three-game series. For now, the A¡¯s head to West Sacramento for a highly anticipated first series at their new temporary home of Sutter Health Park, which kicks off Monday against the Cubs.
¡°Overall, [this series] showed we¡¯ve made a lot of improvements,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°We got swept here at the end of last season. To come get a split on the road for opening weekend, it¡¯s a good result. Not a great result. But we¡¯ll walk away and look forward to Opening Day tomorrow in Sac.¡±