– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — The Athletics’ Nick Kurtz, last season’s unanumous choice for American League Rookie of the Year, was finally coming out of the sophomore slump that started his 2026 campaign before taking a Ponce de Leon fountain-of-youth-like exploration to the area where he learned the game of baseball. In front of friends and family, Kurtz is continuing his hot hitting, and his hit was the most important in another win.
Kurtz lined a a two-run triple down the first-base line in the fifth inning to give the Athletics for good in a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Friday night.
Lefty Jacob Lopez allowed just two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings to get the win while the Athletics bullpen allowed just one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings to close the door.
Kurtz, a native a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, extended his hitting streak to six games, with the last four contests coming near his roots — he went 4-for-12 in three games against the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park before the team’s stop in Baltimore, less than 90 minutes from Lancaster.
Soon after his head-first slide into third base with what proved to be the game-winning hit, a large contingent of Kurtz’s friends and family continued cheering in the stands for the rising star.
Shortstop Jacob Wilson, who finished immediately behind his teammate in last year’s Rookie of the Year voting, went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Athletics.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by staff photographer Timothy Rice. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 21 pictures in total.
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