At the end of September, the Angels stopped by West Sacramento for a quick two-game series with the Athletics to begin the final week of the regular season for both clubs. Neither team was in the hunt for a postseason berth, and the A's ended up taking both games. 

The second game on the docket, a 7-3 victory for the home team, also provided a glimpse into what the A's will have to continue to deal with for the next year.

The A's pounced on starter Walbert Ureña for four runs in the first inning, with Donovan Walton delivering the big shot with a three-run homer. After the contest, both Angels manager Kurt Suzuki and Ureña laughed it off.

"I mean, Donnie told [Vaughn Grissom] his bat broke on that homer," Suzuki said. "What are you gonna do?"

The ball had an exit velocity of 89.8 mph and traveled 332 feet. Statcast measured it as a home run in 10 of 30 MLB ballparks. 

"Not the way [I wanted to end my season], but that's what happens when you allow 89 [mph] exit velo homers," Ureña said with a smile. 

A couple of days later, Walton himself smiled and said it was the cheapest home run he's ever hit, but he'll take it.

The A's walked away with the win, so how is this a negative? It's all in the reactions of the visiting team after the game. Both Ureña and Suzuki weren't bothered at all by the home run and shrugged it off. That's partially due to the spot in the season they were in with just a few games remaining, but it's also indicative of the fact that they got to leave.

The A's pitchers don't have that same luxury. Instead, they know that those cheap swings can turn into big flies and can drastically change the outcome of a game, or season. 

At some point, that has to wear on A's pitchers, which is why you see so many guys unable to find the zone. They're trying to be too fine with their pitches and are missing entirely, making uncompetitive pitches, instead of pounding the zone. 

"It looks like an excuse because you didn't pitch well, but it's like, no, this is [from] watching everybody else play," A's starter Jeffrey Springs said of seeing pitchers struggle at home for the past two years. "Me, sitting in the dugout watching the game, and you see [that] it's different. There's a lot of challenges that come with it." 

The A's were much better at pitching on the road, holding a 4.62 ERA (4.16 FIP), ranking them 21st, along with a 9.6% walk rate (23rd). At home, the A's held a 10.3% walk rate (28th) with a 6.37 ERA (5.67 FIP), which ranked last in baseball. Even the Colorado Rockies, who play at extreme altitude, held a 5.83 ERA at home — with a 7.7% walk rate. 

This is part of the reason why the A's see the Chicago Cubs as a blueprint for how to attack hitters in Sacramento. The A's led MLB in home runs allowed in 2026 with 247, while the Cubs surrendered the second-most with 231 home runs allowed.

The difference between the two clubs was their walk rates, with the A's at 10% (27th in MLB), while the Cubs held a walk rate of 8.2% (9th). Chicago also held an ERA of 4.12, slightly better than league average (4.18), while the A's were well above league average at 5.53.

The A's certainly need upgrades on the pitching staff in general, but visiting teams also come in with the added advantage of knowing they'll be leaving the minor-league ballpark the A's call home just a couple of days later. It's much easier to brush off a bad outing knowing that you may never have to pitch there again, rather than knowing you'll be back on the bump at the same venue in a week. 

There are ways to improve the execution of the pitching staff, but that mental hurdle will have to be cleared as well.