Sears reverses slide against former club as A's blank Yankees

NEW YORK – On Friday night, it was Mitch Spence. Then it was JP Sears’ turn to face his former team, the Yankees, on Saturday afternoon. While Spence pitched well enough to keep the Athletics in Friday’s game, Sears was dealing in a 7-0 victory at Yankee Stadium.

“It was fun to be out there because Yankee Stadium has a lot of good fans and vibes,” Sears said. “Any time you have a good outing against a good team, obviously, it’s fun.”

Sears’ outing was the antithesis of his previous eight starts, in which he allowed 35 runs in 36 innings (an 8.75 ERA). This time, Sears held the Bronx Bombers scoreless for 5 2/3 innings, allowing two hits, walking three and striking out four.

Before the start, Sears had a bullpen session to fix his mechanics. That improved his fastball and sweeper. The ball was down the majority of the time, and he was able to get nine swings and misses.

“This was a big start for JP to bounce back. Hopefully, he will get some momentum going,” said A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “It was one that he needed. This was a start where he knew he had to be good today, and he met that challenge.”

The only time Sears smelled trouble was in the third. With two outs, Cody Bellinger drew the second walk of the inning to put runners on first and second. That brought A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson to the mound to talk to Sears about how to pitch to Aaron Judge. Whatever was said between the two, the strategy worked, because Judge flied out to right fielder Lawrence Butler to end the threat.

“It was a big turning point in the game for us, and a lot of momentum on our side after that,” Kotsay said.

Said Sears, “Judge still put a decent swing on it. I just know the type of hitter he is. I’m trying to go over the game plan there. I was trying to attack him and be a little smart.”

There was even better news from an offensive standpoint. The Athletics’ scoreless streak of 27 innings came to an end with one swing of the bat in the fourth, when Brent Rooker hit a 2-2 pitch from right-hander Clarke Schmidt into the left-center-field seats for his 17th home run of the season.

“It took a big hit from the guy that is the leader. The guy we lean on for offense,” Kotsay said. “He is a middle-of-the-order bat. He is the All-Star, and he hit 39 homers last year. For him to get that big hit, you could take a deep breath. That started the offense today.”

In the sixth, the A’s added to their lead against Schmidt when Nick Kurtz hit a three-run homer to right field to make it a four-run game.

“He got me in the first two at-bats with the cutter. I knew he was going with the cutter again. This time, I swung at a good [pitch],” Kurtz said.

Kurtz made his Major League debut on April 23, and he already has 12 homers and 31 RBIs in 160 at-bats.

“For what he has accomplished so far in the short time he has been in the big leagues, that’s pretty special for someone who did not start with us,” Kotsay said. “He is continuing to make adjustments. He is learning the league a little bit and making the right adjustments.”

Kurtz called himself a confident player. Only time will tell how good he will be in the next few years, he said.

“I think it’s the work that I put in my whole life,” Kurtz said. “It’s not really one year or two years. It’s a combination of everything you've ever done. It’s how bad I want it and how bad I want to succeed. It has shown.”

For Sears, it was his first victory since June 6 against the Orioles. It was also sweet to beat the Yankees, the team that nurtured him for parts of five Minor League seasons and brought him to the big leagues in April 2022 before trading him to the Athletics in August of that season.

“Obviously, you know some of those [Yankees],” Sears said. “I’m good friends with Clarke Schmidt. He has had such a great season so far. It’s always fun to face your friends. … Every win in the big leagues is big.”