By MATT PIKE
Nick Kurtz hit his third career grand slam, J.T. Ginn pitched six innings of one-run ball and the Athletics beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 at Sutter Health Park to even up the three game series.
Nathan Church's RBI single in the fourth inning got the Redbirds on the board first, driving in Nolan Gorman, but in the fifth inning, Kurtz' slam got over Victor Scott II's glove in deep center field to give the A's the lead for good, driving in Darell Hernaiz, Michael Stefanic, and Shea Langeliers for a 4-1 lead.
Iván Herrera brought in Pedro Pagés with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly to cut the A's lead in half. But, in the bottom half of the inning, the Athletics added another run, a sacrifice fly from Henry Bolte, making his major league debut, scoring Kurtz. In the eighth inning the A's scored the final run with another home run, this time a solo home run from Zack Gelof.
Matthew Liberatore took the loss, falling to 2-2 on the season, working five innings and striking out five while allowing nine hits, four runs, and two walks. At the plate, Alec Burleson led the way going 3-for-5 with a double. JJ Wetherholt, Masyn Winn, and Church were all 2-for-4, with Church driving in a run.
Up next, St. Louis and the Athletics wrap up their series on Thursday. Michael McGreevy (3-2, 2.18 ERA, 33K's) starts the finale for the Cardinals against Jacob Lopez (3-2, 6.11 ERA, 28K's) for the A's. First pitch is at 2:05pm, with pregame at 1:55 on KY 102 (102.5FM).
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