Athletics’ Nick Kurtz stays hot with lead-off homer vs. Cardinals

With the Athletics finishing the current series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, the game featured another explosive home run from first baseman Nick Kurtz. As Kurtz continues to make his mark on the Athletics franchise, Thursday marks two straight days of showing how he’s continuing to get hot at the plate.

Wednesday saw Kurtz hit an opposite-field grand slam to put the team in the driving seat to win the game. Fast forward to the next day, and Kurtz connected on a leadoff dinger on a 1-0 count to start the game right. Before Thursday’s contest, Kurtz came in with a .267 batting average to go along with six home runs and 25 RBIs.

Nick Kurtz follows up his grand slam last night with a leadoff homer! pic.twitter.com/uBWZY1kFWK

— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2026

The past two days have shown that the 23-year-old could be heading into a dangerous stretch that other teams will be scared of when facing the Athletics. The grand slam on Wednesday was especially important for Kurtz as it was his first opposite-field shot of the season.

“I’m more happy that that was the first one the other way this year,” Kurtz said, via MLB.com. “That’s a bigger emphasis for me. Righty or lefty, whichever is going to happen is going to happen. But seeing one go that way in the air felt pretty good.”

Nick Kurtz go-ahead GRAND SLAM pic.twitter.com/dJS4u755tb

— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2026

Nick Kurtz is finding a stride with the Athletics

The sequence between Kurtz and Cardinals pitcher Matthew Liberatore was intense, as Kurtz struck out in his first at-bat on Wednesday, falling for the slider. After looking at a few more, Kurtz would make Liberatore pay on the slider, leading to the grand slam.

“I figured, after striking me out with a few sliders in the first at-bat, there was a good chance that he would go to it,” Kurtz said. “He threw me two early, so I knew at a certain spot with two strikes, he was going to go back to it. I fouled off a fastball before that, and then I knew some type of spin was coming. It just happened to be the smaller one.”

At any rate, Kurtz looks to continue his impressive play with the Athletics in 2026.

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