Baylor Grad Nick Kurtz Joins Elite Company With 30th Homer of the Year
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Nick Kurtz joined Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire as the only Athletics rookies to hit 30 home runs and Lawrence Butler hit a ninth-inning walk-off single in a 5-4 win Wednesday over the Boston Red Sox and Aroldis Chapman, whose seven-week hitless streak ended.
Kurtz, who graduated from the Baylor School, led off the second inning with a 357-foot shot to left field off Payton Tolle to give the A’s a 2-1 lead. He is the 32nd player to hit 30 homers as a rookie. Canseco hit 33 in 1986 and McGwire hit 49 the following season.
Shea Langeliers led off the ninth with a double off Chapman (4-3), who hadn’t surrendered a hit since July 23, a span of 50 batters and a franchise-record 17 appearances, the third-longest streak in MLB history since 1901. Langeliers advanced on a flyout and scored on Butler’s single to left.
A’s rookie Jacob Wilson went 1 for 4 and is hitting .319, just behind major league leader Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, who started the night at .321.
