Nick Kurtz’s disrespectful walk-off in A’s ballpark will have Astros fans fuming

Nick Kurtz was on cloud nine on Monday night following his walk-off, two-run homer against the Houston Astros. With the game tied at 1-1, the Athletics' rookie cranked the 2-1 offering from Astros' reliever Bryan Abreu over the fence in right field and the A's won the first game of a three-game series against Houston by the final score of 3-1.

Kurtz was rather impressed with himself, as evidenced by his shameless bat flip following his mammoth home run to the berm in right field. Wait, berm? That's right, don't forget that the A's play their home games at a Minor League stadium in West Sacramento.

There's an old saying, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one's around, does it make sound?" Perhaps something similar could be said of the Athletics' current residence; "if you hit a home run in a Minor League stadium, should it count toward your Major League stats?"

Nick Kurtz’s disrespectful walk-off in A’s ballpark will have Astros fans fuming

To be fair, according to Baseball Savant, Kurtz's two-run blast would've been a home run in all 30 Major League ballparks. And though it was the A's fourth-straight win, the team is hopelessly buried in the standings.

Heading into Game 2 on Tuesday, the A's maintain a 30-44 record and are 12 games behind the Astros in the American League West. So while it was an impressive home run, perhaps such an exuberant bat flip should be kept under lock and key until, you know, you have a winning record. In other words, the 2032 season.

To be clear, there's no need for retaliation on the part of the Astros. Honestly, given their current pitching situation, the last thing Houston needs is a pitcher getting suspended for intentionally throwing at a player.

Houston will get another crack at the A's on Tuesday with Jason Alexander heading to the bump for Joe Espada. The Astros got the unfortunate news on Monday that Lance McCullers Jr. would need a trip to the IL while dealing with a foot sprain. Houston will need Alexander to give them some quality innings after Ryan Gusto was only able to go five on Monday night.

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