Nick Kurtz becomes first MLB rookie with 4-homer game as Athletics beat Astros 15-3

HOUSTON (AP) — Nick Kurtz became the first major league rookie to hit four homers in a game, leading the Athletics to a 15-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Kurtz went 6-for-6 with eight RBIs and six runs scored. He's just the second player in Major League Baseball history to have four homers in a six-hit game, joining Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 23, 2002 at Milwaukee, and he matched Green's MLB record with 19 total bases.

It was the first six-hit game for the Athletics since Joe DeMaestri on July 8, 1955 at Detroit.

The 22-year-old also had a single and a double that hit just below the yellow line over the visitor’s bullpen in the fourth inning.

Kurtz singled in the first and his two-run homer in the second put the Athletics ahead 5-0. His solo shot in the sixth made it 10-2. His third homer was his longest, a 414-foot drive into the second deck in the eighth.

Kurtz's final homer came against outfielder Cooper Hummel, a three-run, opposite-field line drive to the Crawford boxes in left field that made it 15-2.

Kurtz extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his 23 home runs are the most for an A’s rookie since Yoenis Céspedes in 2012 and fourth most in franchise history.

Tyler Soderstrom and Shea Langeliers also homered for the A's, who had a season high in runs.

Jeffrey Springs (9-7) allowed two runs over six innings. Zack Short hit a two-run homer for Houston in the fifth.

Ryan Gusto (6-4) allowed eight runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings.

Hummel had allowed one run and retired two batters in the ninth when Kurtz hit a 77 mph, 2-0 pitch for his fourth homer.

Kurtz is batting .553 (26 for 47) with nine homers and 20 RBIs during his 12-game hitting streak.

Houston RHP Hunter Brown (9-4 2.57 ERA) opposes LHP Jacob Lopez (3-6 4.60 ERA) when the series continues Saturday.

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Houston Astros' Cooper Hummel pitches against the Athletics during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 25, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Athletics' Nick Kurtz celebrates after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 25, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Athletics' Nick Kurtz smiles as he runs the bases after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 25, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Athletics' Nick Kurtz hits a home run against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 25, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.

Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.

But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)