WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Of all the pitches that Matthew Liberatore threw in a prolonged slog through the fifth inning, the one that went the farthest fittingly did the most damage.

Nick Kurtz’s 405-foot grand slam during the decisive five inning obliterated the Cardinals’ one-run lead and launched the Athletics to a 6-2 victory late Wednesday night at Sutter Health Park. Liberatore had navigated around a handful of hits to hold the A’s scoreless through his first four innings, but in the fifth the A’s sent nine batters to the plate, forced the lefty to throw a career-high 43 pitches for one inning, and reversed the course of the game.

The Cardinals finished with a dozen hits.

But only one came with a runner in scoring position, and that one produced the lead that Kurtz’s third career grand slam eclipsed.

A’s starter J.T. Ginn allowed nine hits to the Cardinals. The one run he allowed was unearned, and he pitched through the sixth. Liberatore’s start was over after the fifth inning mushroomed on him. All four runs he allowed the game came on Kurtz’s one swing. Liberatore struck out five. The only inning where he didn’t allow a hit was the first inning, and eventually that constant pressure by the A’s led to an escalating pitch count and the loss.

The Cardinals had a flicker of potential for a comeback in the seventh inning. A bloop single by Pedro Pages ended his 0-for-22 streak and started a potential uprising against the Athletics’ bullpen. Pages would score on Ivan Herrera’s sacrifice fly cut the A’s lead down to two. The Athletics choice to then turn to a lefty reliever seemed to backfire when Alec Burleson roped a single off Hogan Harris and gave Jordan Walker a crack at the lefty with the tying run on base.

Harris spun a curveball past Walker at 75 mph to end the inning.

The A's added to their lead with a run in the seventh inning and another in the eighth. The later came on Zack Gelof's solo homer.

The final game of this California road trip and third and deciding game of the Cardinals' visit to the A's temporary home, a Triple-A ballpark that also houses the Rivercats, will be Thursday afternoon.

A’s grand assertion

It was the swing that didn’t knock his helmet loose that did the most damage.

In the games pivotal fifth inning, A’s slugger Kurtz, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, took two mighty hacks at pitches from Liberatore with the bases loaded. The first time he let loose on a slider that bent down and away from his swing as his helmet wobbled and flew free. Kurtz fouled off a pitch, and as his helmet came loose again the ball clanked off his ankle or shin. He remained in the game to completely upend the game.

After retrieving his helmet for a second time, Kurtz got another slider, and this one he didn’t miss on and his swing did not send his helmet flying.

Only the ball.

Kurtz tagged a slider bending away from him to the left-center gap and over the wall for the grand slam that bruised Liberatore’s start and seized the lead for the A’s. Center fielder Victor Scott II timed his leap against the wall and seemed to have a play on the ball. His reach was about 403 feet from home plate.

Kurtz’s third career grand slam traveled 405 feet.

And Liberatore’s inning wasn’t done.

Trouble brews, pitch count bloats

The prelude to Kurtz’s grand slam was a pair of singles from the bottom of the lineup that brought the game back around to the A’s best hitters.

Liberatore had bebopped around hits throughout the evening. He allowed two singles in the third only to get a key double play from Masyn Winn to defuse that inning. The A’s got two more singles against him in the fourth inning, and then he created the escape with a strikeout. Liberatore bent an 87-mph slider past Jonah Heim for the strikeout to end the fourth inning.

That was his 46th pitch of the game.

He would throw 43 in the fifth inning alone.

With one out, Nos. 8 and 9 hitters Darell Hernaiz and Michael Stefanic floated singles against Liberatore. That turned the inning back over to Shea Langeliers and his .340 average. Langeliers had ripped two liners against the Liberatore and had nothing to show for them. In his third look at the Cardinals’ lefty, Langeliers walked. That filled the bases for Kurtz, and he unloaded them for a 4-1. After allowing the first grand slam of his career, Liberatore would face three more hitters in the inning.

The Cardinals track stress innings and often remove young pitchers from innings that reach 40 pitches. Liberatore was nearing that line as he tried to navigate around two more baserunners after Kurtz’s homer.

Liberatore did it with strikeouts – and a tap from his catcher.

The Cardinals’ lefty created a route out of the inning by striking out All-Star Brent Rooker. Rookie Henry Bolte then worked a two-out walk to reach base for a third time in his major-league debut. That brought up the ninth hitter of the inning, switch-hitter Heim. Liberatore got back in the count with a 2-1 fastball at 94 mph that Heim fouled off. Liberatore followed that with a sinker that was initially ruled a ball to force a full count.

Pages challenged and got the call overturned to end the inning.

That was Liberatore’s 89th and final pitch of the evening.

Church lifts Cards

His playing time steadily increasing as his production does, Nathan Church delivered the first lead of the game after several innings of the Cardinals teasing a rally.

A pair of hits, including a double by Alec Burleson, went nowhere for the Cardinals in the first inning. Two baserunners in scoring positions fizzled in the second. The fourth began more promising. Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn hit back-to-back singles to open the inning, and Gorman skedaddled to third when the A’s right fielder bobbled the ball on Winn’s single.

The next batter, Church, floated a single over the reach of A’s shortstop Hernaiz to score Gorman and collect his 18th RBI of the season.

The inning stalled there.

Pages struck out with runners at the corners, and then Winn was caught off third when Scott pulled back a bunt before ultimately striking out.

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