Rooker, Schuemann hit 3-run homers in Athletics' 19-8 rout of Orioles

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Brent Rooker and Max Schuemann hit 3-run homers and the Oakland Athletics had five home runs overall in a 19-8 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

The A's homered in each of the first four innings for the first time since 2003, with Shea Langeliers and Tyler Nevin also leaving the park. Kyle McCann hit a two-run shot in the eighth. Oakland led 10-0 after two innings and 17-1 after six.

“Everyone was raking,” McCann said.

“It’s good to see the team hitting like that because later on, you can build off of it,” he added. "Hitting’s contagious."

Rooker, who had three hits and drove in four runs, put the A’s up 3-0 in the first. Schuemann’s blast in the second came during a seven-run inning in which eight straight Oakland batters reached base.

A's manager Mark Kotsay called the game his team's best offensive performance of the season. Oakland, which scored 20 runs against the Marlins on May 4, is the only team to score 19 or more runs in multiple games this season.

“They didn’t give their bats away,” Kotsay said. “Even though we had a nice lead, they continued to take good quality at-bats. They didn’t try to hit home runs. They continued to get the pitches in the zone that they can handle, and that’s great on their part today.”

Langeliers added a 2-run homer in the third, his 17th of the season to lead all catchers. Nevin’s blast put the A’s up 13-1 in the fourth. Miguel Andujar added three hits and drove in three runs. Nevin and Brett Harris also had three hits each. Oakland had 18 hits and Baltimore had 16 in front of an announced crowd of 8,526 at the Coliseum.

The 19 runs and 18 hits Baltimore gave up were season highs.

“These kind of games happen, and unfortunately we gave out a lot of runs,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.

The A’s have won four of five, while the Orioles — who have the third best winning percentage in baseball — are in danger of dropping both series against Oakland this season with a loss on Sunday. Oakland has scored at least five runs in four of its last five games.

“We know we have a good group here,” McCann said. “Earlier in the season, we hadn't been doing what we thought we would be doing, but we’re going finish the second half strong.”

Oakland chased Baltimore starter Cade Povich (1-3) before he even recorded an out in the second inning. Povich, making his sixth career start and coming off his first career win, gave up eight runs in his shortest start.

“It doesn't matter what team it is,” Povich said. “At this level, if you’re not coming out with your best stuff, it’s going to happen to you.”

A’s starter Luis Medina (2-3) allowed a run and six hits in five innings.

Adley Rutschman hit a 3-run homer in the seventh for the Orioles, who scored seven runs in the final three innings off the A's bullpen. James McCann, a catcher, pitched the eighth for the Orioles with the team down 11 runs.

ROSTER MOVES

Athletics: LHP Sean Newcomb and IF Aledmys Díaz were released before the game. Both had been designated for assignment earlier in the week.

UP NEXT

RHP Mitch Spence (5-4, 4.15 ERA) pitches for the A’s against RHP Grayson Rodriguez (10-3, 3.45 ERA) for the Orioles in the final game of the three-game set.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Oakland Athletics' Tyler Nevin (26) is congratulated by third base coach Eric Martins (3) as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Baltimore Orioles' Jordan Westburg is congratulated after he scored against the Oakland Athletics during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Baltimore Orioles' Austin Hays hits a sacrifice fly for an RBI against the Oakland Athletics during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Athletics' Daz Cameron scores against the Baltimore Orioles during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Athletics' Miguel Andujar (22) scores behind Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Athletics' Armando Alvarez hits a single against the Baltimore Orioles during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Athletics' Shea Langeliers (23) is congratulated by Tyler Nevin (26) after he scored against the Baltimore Orioles during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Athletics' Max Schuemann runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker, center, is congratulated by Miguel Andujar (22) and Daz Cameron after hitting a three-run home-run against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transgender rights, the regulation of “ghost guns” and the death penalty highlight the Supreme Court's election-season term that begins Monday, with the prospect of the court's intervention in voting disputes lurking in the background.

The justices are returning to the bench at a time of waning public confidence in the court and calls to limit their terms to 18 years that have wide support, including the backing of Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the party's White House nominee.

Whether by design or happenstance, the justices are hearing fewer high-profile cases than they did in recent terms that included far-reaching decisions by the 6-3 conservative majority on presidential immunity, abortion, guns, and affirmative action.

The lighter schedule would allow them to easily add election cases, if those make their way to the high court in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election between Republican Donald Trump and Harris, or its immediate aftermath.

“I think there are legal issues that arise out of the political process. And so, the Supreme Court has to be prepared to respond if that should be necessary,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told CBS News last month in an interview to her promote new memoir, “Lovely One.”

The court's involvement in election disputes might depend on the closeness of the outcome and whether the justices' intervention would tip the outcome, David Cole, the outgoing legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said at a recent Washington event.

“I don’t think the court wants to get involved, but it may have to,” Cole said.

The court turned away multiple challenges from Trump and his allies to the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Biden. It's been nearly a quarter-century since the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 presidential election, in which Republican George W. Bush edged Democrat Al Gore.

When the justices gather Monday morning on a date set by federal law, they will shake hands with each other as they always do. Just after 10 o'clock, they will emerge from behind freshly cleaned heavy red drapery and take their seats on the curved mahogany bench, Chief Justice John Roberts in the center chair and his eight colleagues seated in order of seniority.

There are likely to be smiles and shared private jokes. But the friendliness of that moment will not sweep away tensions that have barely been concealed.

During the summer, two justices, Elena Kagan and Jackson, voiced support for toughening the new ethics code that so far lacks a means of enforcement.

The leak to The New York Times of the contents of a memo Roberts wrote last winter that outlined his approach to the court's presidential immunity decision “was nothing short of shocking,” Supreme Court lawyer Lisa Blatt said last week at a Washington preview of the coming term.

Two years ago, Politico obtained the draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case.

"Something does feel broken,” Blatt said. Describing her experience arguing before the court, she said, some justices “just seem visibly frustrated.”

Important cases dot the court's calendar, beginning Tuesday. The court will take up a challenge to a Biden administration attempt to regulate hard-to-trace “ghost guns” that had been turning up at crime scenes in increasing numbers. The Supreme Court jumped into the case after the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated the regulation.

Last term, conservatives voted 6-3 to strike down a gun regulation that had banned bump stocks, an accessory that allows some weapons to fire at a rate comparable to machine guns. Bump stocks were used in the nation’s deadliest modern mass shooting in Las Vegas.

A day after the guns case, the justices will take up the latest twist in Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip's long quest for freedom. His case is the rare instance in which prosecutors are conceding mistakes in the trial that led to Glossip’s conviction and death sentence.

The highest-profile case on the agenda so far is a fight over transgender rights that is focused on state bans on gender-affirming care. It probably will be argued in December.

Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people. The Supreme Court has separately prohibited the administration from enforcing a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.

The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restrict puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. About half the states have enacted similar restrictions.

Also on tap for the late fall is an appeal from the adult entertainment industry to overturn a Texas law that requires pornographic websites to verify the age of their users.

Only about half the court’s calendar for the term has been filled, and several big cases could be added. Among those is a push by Republican-led states and conservative legal outlets to further restrict federal agencies.

The immediate target is the method the Federal Communications Commission has used to fund telephone service for rural and low-income people and broadband services for schools and libraries.

The case, which the administration has appealed to the Supreme Court, could give the justices the opportunity to revive a legal doctrine known as nondelegation that has not been used to strike down legislation in nearly 90 years. Several conservative justices have expressed support for the idea of limiting the authority Congress can delegate to federal agencies.

FILE - The Supreme Court is pictured, June 30, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)