9-7 – Rangers serve up a double Burger with Eovaldi cheddar in 8-1 victory over A’s

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 13: Jake Burger #21 of the Texas Rangers reacts after he hit second home run of the game against the Athletics in the third inning at Sutter Health Park on April 13, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Texas Rangers scored eight runs while the Northern California Athletics scored one run. Maybe the most surprising thing about tonight’s game, especially as it was unfolding early, was that A’s starter Luis Severino ended up pitching six innings.

Or maybe it was that the A’s eventually scored at all. In the game’s first frame, following an out, Severino walked the next two Texas hitters and then Jake Burger blasted a three-run bomb that looked destined to bounce off the team bus for a big early. Severino appeared to slip on the mound at one point and had the trainers check on him in the inning before allowing a couple more hits that the Rangers stranded.

In the top of the 3rd, Burger took Severino deep once again, a solo shot for his second of the game and fourth of the year. And that was all the scoring for a couple of hours until the Rangers broke through again for four more runs in the top of the 8th on RBI hits from the Joshes Smith and Jung. As for the A’s?

Well, they weren’t ever especially close to touching home for most of the game as they ran into vintage Nathan Eovaldi. The A’s lone run scored on a solo Lawrence Butler home run off Luis Curvelo an inning after Eovaldi had exited an 8-0 game. Eovaldi, who had a couple of uncharacteristically poor outings to begin the year, looked solid in a win over Seattle in his last outing but he stepped it up to 2025 levels of good tonight against an A’s team that came into the evening sharing a lead with Texas in the American League West.