The Athletics spent five innings looking quiet. Then one swing changed the mood, and two more changed the game.
Alika Williams, Carlos Cortes and Lawrence Butler all homered Wednesday as the A’s rallied past the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 at Las Vegas Ballpark. With the win, the Athletics took the series and secured their first home series victory since April.
The late lift
Milwaukee controlled the first half of the night against Jack Perkins. Christian Yelich walked in the first, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Andrew Vaughn’s single.
Then the Brewers added solo homers in each of the next two innings. Gary Sánchez went deep in the second, and Jackson Chourio followed with his sixth homer in the third.
At that point, Milwaukee led 3-0. Brewers starter Brandon Sproat had allowed only four hits across six innings.
However, Williams finally broke through for the A’s in the sixth. His first homer of his MLB career, a solo shot to left, cut the deficit to 3-1.
Where it flipped
The seventh inning brought the punch the Athletics needed.
Cortes opened the inning by crushing a 461-foot homer to right-center off Chad Patrick. Next, Zack Gelof doubled to right to extend his hitting streak to 15-games.
Then Butler delivered the swing of the night. He launched a 463-foot two-run homer to center, scoring Gelof and giving the Athletics a 4-3 lead.
The late surge also pushed the Athletics to 15 home runs over their last three games, keeping their Las Vegas power show at the center of the series.
One clean turn
The Brewers threatened in the eighth. Sal Frelick singled, and Luis Rengifo followed with an infield single to put two on with one out.
Still, the Athletics found their biggest defensive play of the night.
William Contreras grounded into a double play, with Jeff McNeil and Nick Kurtz turning it to end the inning. As a result, the A’s carried their one-run lead into the ninth.
Scott Barlow earned the win after recording the final out of the seventh and the first out of the eighth. Hogan Harris earned a hold after getting the inning-ending double play in the eighth.
Viva Las Elvis
Elvis Alvarado finished it with power.
Alvarado entered in the ninth and retired the Brewers in order. He struck out Yelich, got Chourio on a groundout to Gelof, then struck out Brice Turang to seal the win.
It was Alvarado’s first career save. Notably, it came one night after he struck out all four batters he faced in another sharp relief appearance.
Perkins allowed three runs on five hits over four innings. Luis Medina followed with two scoreless innings, keeping the game within reach before the offense woke up.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with four runs, nine hits and no errors. Milwaukee had three runs, 11 hits and no errors.
Williams went 2-for-3 with a homer and an RBI. Butler drove in two with his fourth homer, while Cortes added his sixth.
For Milwaukee, Chourio went 2-for-5 with a homer, while Sánchez went 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk.
In the end, the A’s turned another power-heavy night into something bigger. They turned it into a comeback, a clean finish and their first home series win in nearly two months.
Up next
The Athletics are off Thursday before the Colorado Rockies come to Las Vegas Ballpark on Friday.
Gage Jump is scheduled to start for the A’s. The left-hander enters at 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 13 strikeouts as he looks to continue an impressive start to his big league career.
Colorado has not announced a probable starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PDT.
The A’s also enter the day 13-9 in one-run games, a mark that fits a young team learning how to make late leads stand up.
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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.
