As the A’s trailed 4-2 in the seventh tonight against the Colorado Rockies, they desperately needed a big hit. With only three to that point after struggling to produce consistently over the last ten days on the road, Seth Brown had enough. His 110 MPH two-run homer off Rockies reliever Justin Lawrence tied the game at four but, more importantly, injected some much-needed life into the entire A’s roster.
An inning later, the A’s regained momentum with another home run, this time by Abraham Toro. It’s fitting for an A’s team that lives and dies by the home run, but tonight it meant so much more.
The A’s took the game with a 5-4 victory, and their eight-game losing streak is officially a thing of the past. It’s their first win since May 11 in Seattle, moving to 20-30 on the season.
Aaron Brooks got the ball for the A’s and, for the second straight start, did well enough to give the team a chance to win despite some setbacks. Those setbacks came in the form of home runs, and the first went to three batters in the game when Ryan McMahon hit a two-run bomb, his second first-inning home run in as many games.
It took the A’s until the third inning to get into the hits column, but they did it in great style with a solo missile from JD Davis to left field. It’s his third home run of the season and first since March 29.
After the A’s let a runner get away at third with one out in the fourth, Ezequiel Tovar made them pay with a solo home run in the next half of the inning. A two-run swing made the score 3-1.
Brooks found a rhythm in the middle innings throwing just 14 pitches in the fourth and fifth combined. His sixth and final inning was a little sweatier as the vet cleared a first and third jam with two outs.
Brooks’ final line was six innings, six hits, one walk and three strikeouts. He continues to prove why he’s worth keeping in the A’s current injury-plagued rotation, and has truly given the team more than expected in his two starts. When he came out, Brooks was once again at risk of suffering a loss he didn’t deserve, but fortunately his offense got him back soon after.
The A’s scored a second run thanks to some giveaways from Cal Quantrill in the sixth. With one out, JJ Bleday hit a 50/50 sinking liner to rookie Jordan Beck in left field, and Beck’s jump attempt missed completely to allow Bleday to run to third for a triple. He would soon score on a wild pitch that went through the legs of catcher Elías Díaz to cut the lead in half.
However, Quantrill still had complete control of the Rockies for most of Tuesday night. He pitched six innings, allowing just three hits and striking out eight to continue his impressive streak of starts.
Brooks made way for Scott Alexander, who was just activated from the disabled list today to make his A’s debut. Alexander’s second hitter of 2024, Tovar, greeted him with a solo golf home run to left field with a ball in his shoelaces. Tovar’s career-first two-homer day put the Rockies ahead by two again, 4-2, but his impressive day at the plate would be overshadowed by some late-inning action.
After the Browns’ second home run in the last three games tied things up, all the momentum shifted to the home team.
Lucas Erceg worked a three-up, three-down Erceg-style eighth in relief, and Toro provided more late-inning heroics with a go-ahead solo rocket to right field. It was Toro’s 28th MLB hit of the month of May, but it also gave the A’s their first lead of the game.
So no close victory would be complete without Mason Miller, and the right-hander dominated once again striking out the team. The last one was against Tovar, the Rockies’ offensive hero tonight.
The victory was far from perfect; The A’s outhit 8-6 and recorded their MLB-leading 37th error early in the game. However, given the circumstances, it is more than enough. Both teams combined for six total home runs on Tuesday, but the two biggest came from the green and gold.
The two will line up again tomorrow at the same first pitch time at 6:40 p.m. PDT, with Joey Estes making his third start of the season for the A’s against Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber.
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