A's Offense Smothers Atlanta Braves in Opener

The A's hung eight runs on Fuentes in his inning plus, as the right-hander allowed five hits, walked two, struck out two, and allowed three home runs. After the Butler homer and the Wilson hit-by-pitch, Brent Rooker also lifted off against Fuentes before he walked Nick Kurtz, and two batters later gave up home run number eight on the year to Max Muncy.

Fuentes would start the top of the second inning, but the first three batters reached on a single-walk-single sequence to load the bases before he was lifted for former A's long man Jesse Chavez. He'd get Brent Rooker to strike out swinging, but Kurtz brought everyone home with his first career grand slam. All of the runners would be charged to Fuentes.

In the third inning, Lawrence Butler hit his second home run of the game, this time clearing the fence in center which resulted in a pleasant jog around the bases. That swing made it 10-0 with the A's most consistent pitcher of the season on the mound for them in Jeffrey Springs.

The left-hander gave up a fifth-inning home run to Eli White, a former A's prospect that was traded to the Texas Rangers as part of the Jurickson Profar deal back in 2018. The two are now teammates in Atlanta.

Springs would toss 93 pitches (63 strikes) in his six innings of work, with that long ball being the only run he'd allow in the game. He scattered six hits and a walk, striking out two, while lowering his ERA on the season to 3.92. After a rough month of April, this is the lowest his ERA has been this season since May 18 when he held a 3.91.

As for Wilson, the X-rays he took came back negative. He's listed as day-to-day and will be reevaluated on Wednesday, per Theo DeRosa of MLB.com. This is great news, especially in front of the All Star break which will give him a little extra time to recover, if needed. The A's can roll with Max Schuemann at shortstop in the short-term, as he filled in for Wilson last July and had his best month as a big-leaguer.

Schuemann, despite being used sparingly this season, is also one of the best gloves the A's have. Only Denzel Clarke, who is an obvious Gold Glover in center with +11, has accrued more Fielding Run Value than Schuemann's +6 this season, which includes a +3 at short. Lawrence Butler is the only other player on the team with at least 100 innings in the field that is above average with the glove.

The series will continue on Wednesday with Mitch Spence (2-4, 4.06) set to take on Bryce Elder (2-6, 5.92). Elder has struggled with the long ball this season, giving up 16 of them in 73 innings, and if the A's are swinging like they did on Tuesday, it could be another long night for the Braves. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (PT).