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Aug 19, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Athletics starting pitcher Jacob Lopez (57) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

A's Jacob Lopez Has Scoreless Streak Stopped in Win Over Minnesota Twins

Originally posted on Oakland Athletics on SI
By Jason Burke | Last updated Aug 20, 2025 9:00 AM ET

A's left-hander Jacob Lopez is slowly but surely making his name known around baseball following yet another impressive start. He entered Tuesday's game having not allowed a run to score in his past four turns through the rotation. This time he was facing a depleted post-deadline Minnesota Twins roster, but that shouldn't take away from the run that he's been on since July 26, a span of five starts.

On Tuesday he lasted six innings, gave up four hits, th ree runs (two earned), walked a batter, and struck out eight.

In his last five outings, Lopez has now tossed 30 innings, given up a total of 18 hits, two earned runs, five walks, and has struck out 36. That's good for a 0.60 ERA over that span with a 0.77 WHIP. The A's as a team went into Tuesday's game in Minnesota with a cumulative 3.36 ERA since the date that Lopez's streak began, which has led them to a 13-8 record.

Athletics on SI wrote recently about how Lopez has the stuff to be a potential Cy Young contender, but noted that he'd need to get deeper into games and limit the number of free passes he was giving up. In his last three outings he's lasted 7 2/3 innings against the Nationals, 7 against the Ray s, and then the 6 in Minnesota. What's more impressive is that he's walked just one batter between the three contests.

FanGraphs did some analysis on Lopez's hot stretch before Tuesday's game and had this interesting little nugget. "Here is the entire list of starters (minimum 1,000 pitches) with at least a 28% strikeout rate and a sub-88 mph average exit velocity allowed: Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Hunter Brown, Zack Wheeler, Garrett Crochet, Chris Sale, and Lopez. That is pretty close to a list of the best pitchers in the sport, and also Jacob Lopez."

It's a pretty interesting piece if you want to nerd out over how Lopez's plant foot makes him perform like Sale.

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Lopez now holds a 3.28 ERA across 90 2/3 innings of work. The way the rotation currently shakes out, he's in line for seven more starts, including the final game of the season.

Obviously things can change as the A's look to provide other players with opportunities, but if he keeps performing similarly to how he is now, he could make a real push to be in the AL Rookie of the Year conversation along with Kurtz and Jacob Wilson . Boston's Roman Anthony is seemingly his biggest obstacle to entering the top three in the voting at the moment.

As for the game itself, Nick Kurtz was batting leadoff and went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles in this one, along with a pair of walks. The Twins actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a double from Matt Wallner, and would hold that lead fo r about five batters, when Shea Langeliers stepped up and clubbed a two-run shot to left, his team-leading 27th on the season.

The A's would add three more in the top of the fourth, loading the bases with the first three batters of the inning before some heads up baserunning from Tyler Soderstrom at third had him score on a sac-fly to the second baseman. Luis Urías followed that up with an RBI single, and Kurtz collected his second double of the game to bring home Darell Hernaiz, giving the A's a 5-1 lead.

After an 18-pitch fifth inning left him at 85 in the game, Lopez was able to cruise to a nine-pitch sixth, giving him his third straight quality start.

It also didn't hurt that the A's had added another run to their tally in the top of the sixth, after Hernaiz led off the inning with a double to center, and was moved to third on a line out by JJ Bleday. He would score on a Brett Harris (1-for-3, 2 RBI) single.

Brooks Lee and Ryan Jeffers hit solo home runs in the fourth and fifth for Minnesota, but Justin Sterner pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the A's, with Hogan Harris coming out in the bottom of the ninth to secure his first career save.

This was just the second save the A's have recorded since trading Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres, but that's because there haven't been many save opportunities. The A's have been winning by more than three runs fairly consistently over the past three weeks.

The only other save for the A's belongs to Sean Newcomb, who entered the a 5-1 game on Friday with two on and one out in the top of the eighth against the Los Angeles Angels. He escaped that jam, and then pitched the ninth as well.

This article first appeared on Oakland Athletics on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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