SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ramón Laureano hit a tiebreaking home run with one out in the seventh inning and Manny Machado and Nick Castellanos also connected to help the San Diego Padres beat the Athletics 7-3 on Friday night.
The Padres bounced back from consecutive losses to the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and beat the AL-West leading A's for the ninth time in their last 10 meetings. The Athletics had their three-game winning streak snapped.
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Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, right, tags out San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., left, during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
San Diego Padres' Ramón Laureano hits a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
San Diego Padres' Ramón Laureano hits a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
San Diego Padres' Ramón Laureano watches his home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Laureano's sixth shot chased starter Jeffrey Springs (3-5) and gave the Padres their first lead. San Diego added three runs in the eighth, including a two-run double by Gavin Sheets.
The Athletics' Nick Kurtz, the 2025 AL Rookie of the Year, hit an RBI double in the first to extend his on-base streak to 45 games, the longest in the majors this year and longest in a single season by an Athletics player since Mark McGwire's 48-game streak to open the 1996 season.
Machado's two-run line shot off Springs into the left-field seats tied it with two outs in the first. It was his eighth and came with Fernando Tatis Jr. aboard on a leadoff walk. It had a launch angle of just 20 degrees.
Castellanos hit a towering drive just fair off the side of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner at Petco Park to tie it again at 3 with one out in the fifth. It was his fourth.
The A's loaded the bases against Bradgley Rodriguez with two outs in the sixth before Adrian Morejon (4-1) came on and struck out pinch-hitter Colby Thomas.
The Athletics took a 2-0 lead just four batters in, on Kurtz's double and Brent Rooker's groundout.
The A's took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Zack Gelof hit a leadoff double to left and scored on Henry Bolte's single to center.
A's RHP J.T. Ginn (2-2, 2.98 ERA) and Padres RHP Lucas Giolito (1-0, 5.40) were scheduled to start Saturday night.
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Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, right, tags out San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., left, during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
San Diego Padres' Ramón Laureano hits a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
San Diego Padres' Ramón Laureano hits a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
San Diego Padres' Ramón Laureano watches his home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Ordinarily, this would have been a disaster. Oklahoma City had three starters combine to score seven points in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Friday night.
Few people probably noticed.
That's how good the Thunder bench was — again.
They'll give out an MVP award when these West finals are over, and if things keep going like this, it might be a good idea to cut it up into parts and just hand it out to those on Oklahoma City's bench. OKC's reserves outscored San Antonio's bench 76-23 on Friday night, a huge reason why the Thunder beat the Spurs 123-108 for a 2-1 series lead.
Jared McCain scored 24 points for the Thunder; that’s a playoff career best. Jaylin Williams — the forward, with Thunder guard Jalen Williams out with hamstring issues again — hit five 3-pointers and scored 18; that was also a playoff career high. And Alex Caruso had 15 points, giving him 63 in this series; that’s the best three-game scoring span of his career.
“I like proving my support system right,” said McCain, a midseason pickup in a trade with Philadelphia. “The people who really believe in me, I like proving them right.”
Oh, they were right. And they had a lot to talk about Friday night.
“We talk about it a lot, in practice and throughout the whole playoffs: Be ready and stay ready,” McCain said. “Coaches have done a great job of that. ... We all are hoopers and we all know what to do out there, especially this team. It's a very mature team. Coming in, I just want to be as ready as I can, no matter what it is.”
He's not alone. The entire OKC bench has been ready, throughout the whole series.
The Thunder got 50 points from their reserves in Game 1, then 57 in Game 2 — and on Friday, the bench mob struck again.
The 76 bench points were the most by a team in a conference finals game since the NBA went to the 16-team playoff format in 1984. The previous mark was 69 by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985. Only two Thunder starters scored in double figures — MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points and Chet Holmgren had 14.
Didn't matter.
Down 15-0 not even three minutes into the game, coach Mark Daigneault went to his bench for the first time.
And everything changed in an instant, a harbinger of what was to come. Caruso, McCain, Williams and Cason Wallace combined to score 21 points in the remainder of that first quarter. The Spurs' lead was down to five going into the second, and it didn't take long for Oklahoma City to grab control.
“We assume the opponent’s always at their best and we need to be at ours and depth is a part of that. ... It just needs to be one of our strengths that we rely on, regardless of circumstance,” Daigneault said.
Oklahoma City's bench contributed 62% of the scoring for the Thunder in Game 3 — something no team had done in a winning effort during a conference finals game in the last four decades. And after being down 15 at the start, the Thunder won by 15 at the end.
For the series, the Thunder reserves have outscored the Spurs' bench 183-64.
“We were ready,” McCain said.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) celebrates after making a 3-point shot during the first half of Game 3 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) and head coach Mark Daigneault react during the second half of Game 3 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Oklahoma City Thunder guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Alex Caruso (9) high-five during the first half of Game 3 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain (3) works toward the basket as San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) defends during the second half of Game 3 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series Friday, May 22, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
