A's Slugger Nick Kurtz's 42-Game On-Base Streak Has Blown Past the League and Angels Fans Have No Answer

Alright, Seattle, can we just talk about what the A's did to the Angels last night? It was an absolute offensive explosion, a 14-6 shellacking that left me shaking my head. Seriously, imagine giving up 14 runs, and 12 of them come with two outs? That's not just bad luck, that's a nightmare, and it tells you everything you need to know about the momentum they allowed to build. All six runs in the third inning? Two outs! Angels manager Kurt Suzuki straight up admitted it's "tough to get that last out," and you can bet that's an understatement when the A's bats caught fire like that.

Nick Kurtz Is Unstoppable, And The Angels' Pitching Is A Mess

The heart of that A's attack? First baseman Nick Kurtz. This dude is on another planet right now. He racked up three more hits and five RBIs on Tuesday night, pushing his on-base streak to a ridiculous 42 straight games. Think about that for a second. That's already longer than Kyle Schwarber's MLB-best 41-game streak from last season! The A's franchise record is 62 games by Mark McGwire, so Kurtz still has some work to do, but he's already doing something special. His teammate, Aaron Civale, summed it up perfectly: Kurtz "is able to pick me and a lot of other pitchers up." Meanwhile, the Angels are trying to find a bright side. They lead the MLB in strikeouts, but they only fanned five times last night. Suzuki noted they've been "focusing on battling with two strikes," which is good, but it didn't stop the A's from putting up video game numbers. They did manage to score six runs, which actually snapped a seven-game streak of scoring two runs or fewer. Let's not forget, these are the same Angels who were no-hit for eight innings on Monday, only pulling out a 2-1 walk-off win in the ninth to end a six-game skid. Oof.

Can Kochanowicz Stop The Bleeding? Don't Bet On It

Tonight's pitching matchup looks like it's going to be another rough one for the Angels. The A's are sending out right-hander Aaron Civale, who's been lights out. He's sitting at 5-1 with a tidy 2.70 ERA, and this month alone he's 3-0 with an even better 1.69 ERA. He just gave up two runs in five innings in a 5-2 win against the Giants last Friday, and he's even got a history of shutting down the Angels, blanking them on one hit over 6 1/3 innings back in August. The Angels? They're countering with right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, and his numbers this month are not looking good. He's 0-3 with a sky-high 7.71 ERA in three starts. He's given up six earned runs in his last two outings, including a 6-0 loss to the Dodgers on Friday. And against the A's specifically, he's 0-1 with a 12.38 ERA in his two career starts. Yikes. It's game three of their four-game series tonight in Anaheim. Can the Angels pull themselves together and stop the A's momentum, or will Civale and Kurtz keep on rolling and extend this painful stretch for the Halos? You know I'll be tuning in to see how this one plays out.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.