Athletics, Royals fight to finish season on a positive note

A young band of talented Athletics have clinched a third straight winning month and point to the sustained run as signs that they can compete for a playoff berth in 2026.

The A's are also one of the hottest teams down the stretch of the season and look to win for the 11th time in 15 games when they face the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night at West Sacramento, Calif.

The Athletics (76-84) notched a 4-3 walk-off victory in Friday's opener of the series, beating the Royals for the fourth time in four meetings this season.

Shea Langeliers delivered the game-winning RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Kansas City left fielder Adam Frazier took a lateral path to his left and the ball landed behind him.

The victory gave the A's a 13-9 record in September following a 13-11 mark in July and a 15-12 record in August.

"This second half of the year, this group has really come together and battled our tails off," Langeliers said. "We're playing good baseball and we're trying to keep this momentum going into the offseason."

Langeliers has belted 20 of his 31 homers over the final three months while being one of the key figures in the team's improved play.

Of course, the Athletics were well out of contention early in the season after losing 20 of 21 games during one stretch.

They were 18 games below .500 on June 29 and have since gone 42-33, a .568 clip that easily earns a team a postseason spot over a full season during the three-team wild-card era.

"Being a young team, we had a lot of learning curves early in the year," said All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson, who had a three-run double in Friday's triumph. "Going into spring training next year we will have confidence where we went through a tough stretch early in the year that we learned from. We now know how to prepare ourselves to get out of those funks."

Kansas City (80-80) needs to win the final two games to finish above .500 for the second straight season.

"We want to win these last games for sure," Royals second baseman Jonathan India told reporters. "We want to finish positive and that's our goal."

The Royals held a 3-0 lead Friday after India lined a three-run homer to left in the fourth.

"Overall, I still felt a little off-time at the plate," India said. "But it was a good swing for sure in that at-bat."

Royals veteran Michael Wacha (9-13, 4.00 ERA) faces Athletics rookie Luis Morales (4-2, 3.07) on Saturday night in a battle of right-handers.

Wacha is making his career-best 31st start and will take the mound for the 60th time in two seasons with Kansas City.

The 34-year-old has struggled late in the season with consecutive losses and four in his past five outings. He has allowed 13 runs and 17 hits in just 7 2/3 innings over his last two turns.

Wacha allowed six runs and eight hits over five innings in last Sunday's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Wacha lost to the A's on June 13 when he allowed five runs and nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. He is 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA in two career starts against the Athletics.

Morales has struck out 38 in 44 innings but also has served up eight homers. He has allowed two in each of his last three outings.

The Cuban, who turned 23 on Wednesday, lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in his last outing on Sept. 20, giving up two runs and five hits over six innings.

--Field Level Media