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.”