The Athletics are not just making noise in Las Vegas anymore. They are making a move.
Tyler Soderstrom came off the bench and delivered a go-ahead double in the sixth inning Saturday as the A’s beat the Colorado Rockies 7-5 at Las Vegas Ballpark. It was their fourth straight win in Summerlin and another comeback, pushing the Athletics to 35-35 and one game behind Seattle in the AL West.
The early answer
The A’s struck first against Kyle Freeland in the opening inning. Nick Kurtz singled, Shea Langeliers doubled and Jacob Wilson drove both home with a two-out single to left.
That gave the Athletics a 2-0 lead. However, Colorado worked its way back.
Brett Sullivan homered to open the third. Then Troy Johnston singled home TJ Rumfield in the fourth to tie the game at 2.
Zack Gelof answered in the bottom half. After Henry Bolte singled, Gelof launched his ninth homer of the season to left-center, putting the A’s back ahead 4-2.
Where it flipped
Colorado took its biggest swing in the fifth.
Kyle Karros tripled and scored on Sullivan’s sacrifice fly. Soon after, Sterlin Thompson doubled, moved home on a passed ball and Rumfield doubled in Edouard Julien to give the Rockies a 5-4 lead.
Still, the A’s did not fold. That has become the theme of this Summerlin stretch.
In the sixth, Gelof singled and moved to second on Max Muncy’s groundout. Then Alika Williams tied the game with a two-out single to center.
Next came Soderstrom. Pinch-hitting for Colby Thomas, he doubled to left and scored Williams for a 6-5 lead.
After that, Nick Kurtz was intentionally walked, Langeliers walked and Carlos Cortes was hit by a pitch. As a result, Soderstrom came home with the final run.
Late-inning backbone
José Suarez earned the win in relief after allowing one run over 1 2/3 innings. Then Scott Barlow and Mark Leiter Jr. followed with scoreless frames to carry the lead to the ninth.
Then Elvis Alvarado shut it down again.
Alvarado struck out Karros and Sullivan before getting Thompson on a groundout to finish his second save. He threw 19 pitches, 15 for strikes, and struck out two in a perfect ninth.
Notably, Alvarado has now closed back-to-back wins in this Las Vegas stretch. That matters for a bullpen that needed steadier late-game answers.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with seven runs, 11 hits and no errors. Colorado had five runs, eight hits and one error.
Williams went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and the game-tying RBI. Gelof went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and scored twice.
Soderstrom’s only at-bat became the game’s biggest swing. Wilson added two RBIs, while Kurtz and Langeliers each reached twice.
For Colorado, Sullivan drove in two runs and Rumfield went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
Joey Estes allowed four runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings in his first major league start of the season after being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas.
In the end, the A’s reached .500 with another comeback. They also moved into second place in the AL West, one game behind Seattle.
Up next
The Athletics close the series against the Rockies on Sunday at Las Vegas Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. PDT.
Jeffrey Springs is scheduled to start for the A’s. The left-hander enters at 3-6 with a 4.68 ERA and 63 strikeouts.
Colorado is scheduled to counter with right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, who enters at 6-4 with a 4.08 ERA and 39 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.
