The Athletics did not just bring their power into another Las Vegas series. They brought their climb in the standings with it.
Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz went back-to-back in the fifth, Lawrence Butler sparked the late innings and the A’s beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 on Friday at Las Vegas Ballpark. With the win, the Athletics moved to 34-35 and into a tie with Texas for second place in the AL West, two games behind Seattle.
Power starts it
For four innings, the A’s had traffic but no breakthrough. Then Langeliers changed that with one swing.
Langeliers hit his team-leading 18th homer in the fifth, sending a 450-foot shot to center off Seth Halvorsen. Soon after, Kurtz followed with his 16th homer, a 471-foot blast to right-center.
That gave the Athletics a 2-0 lead. However, Colorado answered fast.
Jump gave the A’s five scoreless innings before Colorado reached him in the sixth. Willi Castro singled, Kyle Karros followed with another single and TJ Rumfield walked to load the bases with nobody out.
The response matters
Justin Sterner entered and struck out Hunter Goodman. Then Troy Johnston lifted a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 2-1.
Cole Carrigg followed with the swing that briefly flipped the game. His three-run homer put Colorado ahead 4-2, with two of those runs charged to Jump and one to Sterner.
Still, the Athletics did not let the inning decide the night. In the bottom half, Jacob Wilson walked, Zack Gelof singled and Max Muncy tied the game with a two-run double to center.
It was another late push from a club that has started to make these games feel normal in Las Vegas.
Butler breaks it open
The A’s found a strange but important go-ahead run in the seventh.
Butler led off with a double and later broke for home during a rundown. Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman threw the ball away, allowing Butler to score and giving the Athletics a 5-4 lead.
Then Butler added breathing room in the eighth. His two-out RBI single scored Muncy and pushed the lead to 6-4.
Butler finished 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two key late-game moments after entering for Colby Thomas in the fifth.
Barnett keeps dealing
Mason Barnett picked up his first win of the season and continued his strong run since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas.
Barnett worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowed one hit and struck out one. Through four appearances with the Athletics, he has not allowed a run across 9 2/3 innings, with 13 strikeouts and only three hits allowed.
That bridge mattered. Hogan Harris took over in the eighth, stranded Rumfield after a double and closed the game with 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his sixth save.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with six runs, 10 hits and no errors. Colorado had four runs, seven hits and two errors.
Kurtz went 2-for-5 with a homer and his 50th RBI. Muncy went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Langeliers added his 18th homer, while Gelof singled in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.
Also, Tyler Soderstrom extended his on-base streak to 21 games with a seventh-inning walk.
In the end, the A’s got the power, the bullpen and another standings nudge. That is a good way to open a series in a ballpark that keeps giving this lineup room to swing.
Up next
The Athletics continue the series against the Rockies on Saturday at Las Vegas Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PDT.
Joey Estes is scheduled to start for the A’s after being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this week. The 24-year-old right-hander went 2-6 with a 5.95 ERA in 12 starts for the Aviators, striking out 39 and walking 38 across 59 innings.
Colorado is scheduled to start left-hander Kyle Freeland, who enters at 1-6 with a 7.81 ERA and 45 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.
