WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone had just finished a successful road series but still felt a bit exasperated after New York took two of three games against the Athletics in the minor league stadium that torments pitchers and fielders alike.
“I didn’t play in the PCL. But I feel like I’ve experienced it a couple times here when it gets hot like this,” Boone said Sunday following a 13-8 win against the A's. “You’re never feeling safe. ... Just glad to escape here and get on the bird. It’s a challenging place to play. You have to figure it out.”
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New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hits an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Athletics pitcher Jacob Lopez, centet, hands the ball to manger Mark Kotsay, right, after being pulled during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger (35) heads toward teammates after scoring during the third inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
The Athletics and the New York Yankees play during the fifth inning of a baseball game at Sutter Health Park, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Less than halfway through their second season at their temporary home at Sutter Health Park in the Sacramento area, the A's are still trying to deal with the challenges of a ballpark that inflates offensive numbers.
The heat and jet stream can turn what might seem like normal fly balls into home runs. The high sky and unpredictable winds make catching fly balls an adventure. It combines to make the ballpark one of the friendliest in the league for hitters and has appeared to have taken a toll on the A’s pitchers.
The A's went 1-5 on their most recent homestand, allowing 47 runs against Seattle and New York — including 13 in one inning against New York — in what has become a pattern in the team's waystation before moving to Las Vegas.
The A's have shown promise this season and have spent plenty of time in first place in the AL West before this recent slump. They rank 10th best in the majors with a 17-14 mark on the road, while their 11-17 record at home is the second worst.
Pitching is the major reason why.
The A's are allowing 3.01 more runs per game at home than on the road. That would be the biggest discrepancy ever for a full season in the majors, according to Sportradar, beating the previous mark of 2.82 by the Phillies in 1923 and even topping any season played in the mile-high altitude in Denver.
“You watch games here,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said when asked about the challenge of pitching at the A's ballpark. “You got to keep the ball down the zone and get the ball on the ground. We’ve paid for our mistakes probably more than what we’ve paid for mistakes on the road. That being said, we’ve got to play better defense at home. … That’s a combination of what it takes to pitch better. It’s also to play better.”
While the A's try to downplay the impact knowing they can't change it, the evidence is stark. The ease with how the ball carries takes a toll on pitchers, who can become reluctant to challenge hitters.
The A's have walked batters at the second-highest rate in the majors at home, compared to 18th highest on the road. The A's walked 16 batters in the three-game series against the Yankees, including four with the bases loaded.
“We’re not going to overfocus on home-road splits right now but obviously we’re well aware that we haven’t played well in this ballpark," Kotsay said.
But the pitchers say they try to do their best to avoid letting it play with their heads.
“You can try and pitch to it, and if you do that, it might work one time, but you might also do something that you don’t want to do, or try and do something you’re not good at,” A's starter Aaron Civale said. “Sometimes the wind’s blowing out here, sometimes the wind is blowing out in another stadium or different place. So there’s factors everywhere, rain, weather, cold, hot. It’s all conditions that we can’t control. Unless you have a roof over your head, then surely there’s nothing you can do about it.”
While the A's pitchers have been hurt more by the environment than their counterparts, the conditions are a challenge for everyone. On Saturday night, Yankees starter Ryan Weathers had the kind of stuff that should have produced a strong outing.
Weathers had 10 strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings and generated swings and misses on more than 40% of swings for just the third time in his career. But three home runs — including two on what he considered to be good pitches — proved costly in a 6-4 loss.
But he said he couldn't change his approach even knowing the risks of any flyball.
“I did my time in the PCL, so I know how these parks work,” he said. “But obviously, that can’t go into your decision-making, can’t go into your pitching.”
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New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hits an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Athletics pitcher Jacob Lopez, centet, hands the ball to manger Mark Kotsay, right, after being pulled during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger (35) heads toward teammates after scoring during the third inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
The Athletics and the New York Yankees play during the fifth inning of a baseball game at Sutter Health Park, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
NEW YORK (AP) — The World Cup, a 48-team, 104-match behemoth kicking off next week across 16 cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada, presents an unprecedented security challenge, with more countries, games and a larger footprint than ever before.
It also comes against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran, mounting political violence in President Donald Trump's orbit and growing fears of artificial intelligence-fueled disruptions, creating a complex threat environment for authorities.
Overseeing the sprawling security apparatus is a legion of federal agencies, state and local police departments and private entities. Their responsibilities range from securing stadiums and fan zones to escorting teams and protecting dignitaries.
Their tools include hunter drones that can shoot nets over objects in restricted airspace, bag-inspecting robot dogs, giant X-ray trucks and thousands of AI-powered cameras trained on public spaces soon to be thronged by fans.
In the U.S., it’s “78 Super Bowls over 39 days,” said Andrew Giuliani, executive director of Trump’s World Cup task force, which is overseeing the multiagency effort.
“There’s never been a summer like this in American history from a security angle,” said Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
“We’re as prepared as we can be.”
The tournament has the same high-level federal security designation as the Super Bowl, just below a presidential inauguration or a national political convention, ensuring federal, state and local coordination. It coincides with other major events linked to the 250th anniversary of America's founding.
So far, Giuliani said, there are no credible threats.
The Department of Homeland Security, focused on Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown and hit by a funding lapse only recently resolved, estimates up 7 million people will visit the U.S. for the World Cup.
The U.S. Secret Service, under scrutiny after security breaches and attempts on Trump’s life, is in charge of protecting world leaders who show up to cheer on their countries. Trump has expressed interest in attending a match.
“I feel very comfortable where we’re at, and we feel like we have a zero-fail mission,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Congress this week, noting that the Secret Service was understaffed by about 860 agents. “But it’s going to be complicated.”
Officials have indicated they are confident they can keep Trump safe because they will be integrating his usual security into the robust World Cup plan on days he may watch a match.
The FBI has spent two years developing its security plan, incorporating lessons from other major events such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and New Year’s Eve ball drop in New York and testing them at smaller ones, including last week’s Israel Day parade in the city.
"We prepare for the worst day,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Amit Kachhia-Patel in New York told The Associated Press. “And that’s how we go into any single event."
To help cover security costs, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has distributed $625 million to the 11 U.S. host cities. An additional $250 million is being directed toward tracking and neutralizing suspect drones.
The disbursement of those funds was held up by the department's funding delay, which the Republican administration has argued hindered security planning.
Others involved in the planning effort said the federal government could have played a more hands-on role even before the shutdown.
John Cohen, a former senior DHS official who has been briefing state leaders before the matches, said the government was largely absent from planning meetings last year and did not begin sharing threat intelligence with host regions until recently.
“With an event of this magnitude, one would expect the federal government would’ve played a more active role,” Cohen said. “It felt like a missed opportunity to showcase that collaboration.”
In January, thousands of officials involved in World Cup security gathered for exercises simulating crowd surges, vehicle attacks and mass shootings.
A month later, the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran.
“The security picture fundamentally changed,” said Stefano Ritondale, chief intelligence officer at Artorias, a defense intelligence company not involved in the security preparations. “There’s a major difference in preparing for a lone wolf radical who rams his car into a public place and a terrorist who is bankrolled by a foreign country we’re at war with.”
Among the greatest concerns are drones.
Since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022, drones have become a prominent weapon in conflicts including Russia’s war in Ukraine and Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“If there is one threat that keeps me up at night, it is from drones,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, whose department is partnering with the FBI on drone mitigation.
Drones are prohibited over stadiums and fan zones, and Kachhia-Patel said the FBI has a “full suite of options” to thwart incursions. They include agents monitoring the sky and a “variety of means” to safely down the devices, he said without elaborating.
Before this year’s World Cup, the growing sophistication of AI videos was a particular concern, with officials warning that state actors can harness the technology to sow misinformation and panic.
On match days, the FBI will activate joint operations centers in each host city, bringing together local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to monitor and investigate threats.
“If there’s a video that shows an explosion going off at a site, and it’s AI generated, we have people on the ground who can validate whether or not that’s true,” said Kachhia-Patel.
Some AI companies have pitched themselves to police departments in host cities, promising to comb through data and surveillance on game days to prevent threats, including unruly fan behavior.
“We know sports fanaticism around here in terms of the NFL and baseball to some extent, but nothing like international soccer,” said Jake Becchina, a police spokesperson in Kansas City, Missouri, which is hosting six matches.
The department has contracted with Peregrine Technologies, which promises to sift through police data and publicly available information such as team practice locations and the country affiliation of popular bars, to get ahead of possible conflict.
In Dallas, a recent $120 million tech upgrade will give local police body cameras capable of real-time translations, helping law enforcement communicate with international visitors soon to descend on the region.
Several drone detection and mitigation companies are joining efforts to help federal agencies secure the skies.
One of those companies, Fortem, has claimed to have signed a multimillion-dollar contract with DHS before the World Cup for an unusual drone mitigation strategy: quadcopters that can shoot nets at encroaching drones to trap them in midair. A spokesperson for DHS declined to discuss the contract.
Just as the teams will aim to perform their best on the pitch, Giuliani said the security planning was a unique chance to “show off American exceptionalism."
“If we do our job right,” Giuliani added, “nobody will be talking about security at the World Cup.”
Santana reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
Rows of desks fill the FBI's Joint Operations Center in New York, Thursday, June 4, 2026, ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
FBI Special Agent in Charge Amit Kachhia-Patel, Mission Services Division, is interviewed in the agency's Joint Operations Center, in New York, Thursday, June 4, 2026, ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
FBI Special Agent in Charge Amit Kachhia-Patel, Mission Services Division, walks through a portion of the agency's Joint Operations Center in New York, Thursday, June 4, 2026, ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Temporary fencing with FIFA World Cup 2026 signage is set up outside SoFi Stadium, Friday, June 5, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House FIFA World Cup 2026 task force, shakes hands with journalists following a press briefing on World Cup security, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AT&T Stadium, where upcoming World Cup soccer matches are scheduled to be played, has its name covered by three gray tarps Monday, June 1, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House FIFA World Cup task force, speaks at a news briefing about World Cup security, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
