Nick Kurtz ties Ted Williams with 19-game walk streak as Athletics beat Royals

Nick Kurtz’s patience at the plate has become more than a quirky stat line. In the Athletics’ 6-3 win over the Kansas City Royals at Sutter Health Park, the 23-year-old rookie drew a walk for his 19th consecutive game, then added a two-run double that helped turn a tight early game into another sign that Oakland may already have a cornerstone in place.

Kurtz was intentionally walked in the seventh inning, a move that underscored how opponents are now approaching him. That plate appearance tied Ted Williams for the third-longest streak of consecutive games with at least one walk since walks began being tracked individually, with only Barry Bonds at 20 straight games in 2002-03 and Roy Cullenbine at 22 in 1947 ahead of him. Kurtz called the company “crazy” and said being mentioned alongside Bonds was “pretty cool.”

The Athletics needed the on-base threat. Kansas City struck first when Maikel Garcia singled in a run in the opening inning, but Oakland answered quickly as Jacob Wilson scored on an infield single by Max Hernaiz. The bigger swing came in the second, when Garcia homered to left-center and the inning opened up around Kurtz’s two-run double. The A’s turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead, then added another run in the seventh when Hernaiz scored on a second infield single to push it to 6-2.

The Royals chipped away late, but the game never fully tilted back. Elias Diaz added a home run for Kansas City, while Vinnie Pasquantino missed his second straight start because of lower back tightness before pinch-hitting in the ninth. Jeffrey Springs left after three innings with right hip soreness and 67 pitches, and Luis Medina worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings to help stabilize the middle of the game for Oakland. John Schreiber, Justin Perkins and others finished it from there.

The larger picture for the Athletics is hard to miss. Oakland finished April 16-10, its best April since 2014, and Kurtz has been central to that start. Selected fourth overall in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and promoted to the majors on April 23, 2025, he followed a Rookie of the Year season in which he hit .290 with 36 home runs and 86 RBI. Now, with pitchers trying to work around him and still failing, his walk streak is starting to look less like a run and more like a foundation.