The Athletics’ first Summerlin stretch was never quiet. It ended with the loudest score of the week.
The A’s lost 23-9 to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday at Las Vegas Ballpark, closing a six-game run that produced 102 total runs. Still, the Athletics went 4-2 across the stretch, bookending four straight wins with losses on either side.
The early swing
Colorado opened the game with two runs in the first on Hunter Goodman’s two-run homer. However, the Athletics answered with four in the bottom half.
Tyler Soderstrom doubled in Lawrence Butler to get the A’s started. Then Carlos Cortes singled home Nick Kurtz and Soderstrom to put the Athletics ahead 3-2.
Max Muncy added a sacrifice fly later in the inning. As a result, the A’s led 4-2 after one.
But the game turned quickly. Willi Castro hit a two-run homer in the second, and Colorado moved back ahead 5-4.
Kurtz tied it in the bottom half with an RBI double. After that, the Rockies took over.
Where it got away
Colorado scored three in the fourth, six in the fifth, four in the seventh and five more in the eighth. By the end, the Rockies had scored 23 runs for the first time in franchise history.
Goodman homered twice and finished 5-for-6 with four RBIs. Castro also homered twice, including a grand slam in the eighth, and drove in seven.
Troy Johnston added a two-run homer and four RBIs. TJ Rumfield homered, tripled and drove in two.
The Rockies finished with 24 hits and six home runs. They also went 10-for-19 with runners in scoring position.
No answers on the mound
Jeffrey Springs took the loss after allowing eight runs, six earned, on seven hits over four innings. He struck out five but gave up three home runs.
Then the bullpen could not stop the damage. Luis Medina allowed six runs in the fifth, Brady Basso gave up four runs over 1 2/3 innings and Scott Barlow allowed four runs in the eighth.
Cortes, a position player, handled the final 1 2/3 innings. Even then, Colorado added another run on Rumfield’s solo homer.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics still had 15 hits, but it was not nearly enough.
Soderstrom went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer and two RBIs. His seventh-inning homer was his 12th of the season.
Muncy hit his third homer and drove in three. Butler went 3-for-5, while Zack Gelof and Jonah Heim each had two hits.
Kurtz added his 52nd RBI. Still, Colorado’s offense overwhelmed everything.
The bigger picture
The loss dropped the Athletics to 35-36. Even so, they left Summerlin in second place in the AL West after a 4-2 stretch.
Because Seattle also lost Sunday, the A’s remained one game back in the division. The week was chaotic, but it was not empty.
The A’s won four straight, reached .500 briefly and made the AL West race feel tighter than it did when the homestand began.
In the end, Sunday was ugly. However, the larger takeaway from Las Vegas was still clear.
This team can slug, rally and make noise. Now it has to prove it can keep games from turning into jackpots for the other side.
Up next
The Athletics return to Sutter Health Park on Monday to open a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. PDT.
J.T. Ginn is scheduled to start for the A’s. The right-hander enters at 4-3 with a 3.15 ERA and 65 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh is scheduled to counter with right-hander Jared Jones, who enters at 1-0 with a 4.73 ERA and 14 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.
