The Athletics finally gave Las Vegas a win to match the fireworks.
One night after hitting seven home runs in a wild loss, the A’s launched five more Tuesday and beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-5 at Las Vegas Ballpark. It was their first win of this Summerlin home stretch, and it came in the market they are set to call home in 2028.
Vegas power plays
Jackson Chourio opened the scoring with a two-run homer off J.T. Ginn in the first inning. However, Nick Kurtz answered fast.
Kurtz hit his 15th home run in the bottom of the first, cutting Milwaukee’s lead to 2-1. Then Henry Bolte gave the Athletics the moment of the night.
After Jonah Heim led off the second with a single, Bolte crushed his first major league homer. The two-run shot traveled 446 feet to right-center and gave the A’s a 3-2 lead.
It was not a cheap one. Bolte’s homer left the bat at 106.9 mph.
Where it turned
Milwaukee tied the game in the fourth on Sal Frelick’s RBI single. But the Athletics punched back in the fifth.
After Shea Langeliers singled, Tyler Soderstrom hit a two-run homer off Robert Gasser. Soon after, Heim added a solo homer to center.
That burst pushed the Athletics ahead 6-3. It also gave them 12 home runs across the first two games at Las Vegas Ballpark, matching a franchise record for a two-game span.
The Brewers made it tense in the sixth. Frelick drove in a run on a groundout, then Christian Yelich added an RBI single with a Bolte error on the play.
At that point, the lead was down to 6-5. Then Elvis Alvarado entered and changed the game.
Fresh arms finish it
Alvarado struck out Chourio to strand two runners and protect the lead. Next, Zack Gelof led off the bottom of the sixth with his eighth homer, extending his 14-game hitting streak and giving the A’s a 7-5 cushion.
From there, the bullpen delivered the clean finish the Athletics needed. Alvarado and Mason Barnett combined for 3 1/3 perfect innings and eight strikeouts.
Alvarado struck out four over 1 1/3 innings. Barnett handled the final two innings with four strikeouts and earned his first MLB save.
Barnett has continued to pitch well since being called up from the Las Vegas Aviators. On Tuesday, he finished the job in the same ballpark where his climb ran through Triple-A.
That mattered because the Athletics entered the night carrying a familiar concern. Their offense has been explosive, but late leads have too often turned fragile.
This time, the finish matched the power.
Ginn earned the win after allowing five runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with seven runs, 10 hits and one error. Milwaukee had five runs, eight hits and one error.
Heim went 3-for-4 with a homer, two runs and an RBI. Kurtz reached three times, going 1-for-3 with a homer, two walks and an RBI.
Also, Soderstrom drove in two with his 11th homer. Bolte added two RBIs with his first big league blast, while Gelof added the final run with a solo shot.
In the end, the story was bigger than one win. The Athletics brought another home run show to Las Vegas, but this time they also brought the pitching finish to make it count.
Up next
The Athletics continue the series against the Brewers on Wednesday at Las Vegas Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. PDT.
Jack Perkins is scheduled to start for the A’s. The right-hander enters at 2-3 with a 6.19 ERA and 39 strikeouts.
Milwaukee is scheduled to counter with right-hander Brandon Sproat. He enters at 1-4 with a 6.17 ERA and 54 strikeouts.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
