LAS VEGAS — Despite playing countless games at the notoriously hitter-friendly Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies had never put up numbers like they did on a scorching Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.
With temperatures hitting 101 degrees, the Rockies demolished the Athletics 23-9 at Las Vegas Ballpark, setting a new franchise record for runs scored in a single game.
Willi Castro was the offensive standout, finishing with seven RBIs and four hits — including a grand slam off Scott Barlow in the eighth inning. Hunter Goodman had a career-best five hits and drove in four runs, while Kyle Karros also added four hits. The Rockies piled up 24 total hits, just one short of the team’s all-time hit record set against Houston on September 25, 2011.
“You’ve just got to make contact and the ball’s gonna go,” Goodman said of the Las Vegas conditions.
Colorado launched six home runs in total, with Castro and Goodman each hitting two. Troy Johnston and TJ Rumfield also went deep for the last-place Rockies, who improved to 27-45 and snapped a three-game skid.
The Rockies took control in the fifth inning, scoring six times to push their lead to 14-6. Goodman’s home run started the rally, which was capped by a run-scoring triple from Tyler Freeman.
The Athletics, who are scheduled to permanently relocate to Las Vegas in 2028, wrapped up a six-game homestand this week against Milwaukee and Colorado at the ballpark that currently serves as home to their top minor league affiliate. The A’s went 4-2 during the homestand.
The six-game stretch produced a staggering 102 combined runs, beginning with a wild 15-14 Milwaukee victory over Oakland last Monday in a 12-inning game that featured 11 home runs and 34 hits.
While Sunday’s game offered a glimpse of what big league baseball could look like in the Nevada desert, Goodman isn’t ready to draw conclusions — because the A’s future Las Vegas home will be a very different environment. The team is building a new $2 billion enclosed stadium on The Strip, unlike the open-air ballpark used this week.
“I’ll be curious to see how it plays,” Goodman said. “I think time will tell. With it being indoors, I don’t know if it will play the same or not. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer, who has seen similar high-scoring affairs during his time in Triple-A Albuquerque, acknowledged the unique challenges of the desert environment.
“This is a very, very tough environment to play baseball,” Schaeffer said. “As you saw, obviously the ball flies in the thin air, the heat and the sun. It’s just a hard place to play.”
Starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano earned the win at 7-4, even after surrendering eight runs and nine hits over five innings. Eiberson Castellano pitched three scoreless frames to earn a save in his major league debut. Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs dropped to 3-7 after giving up eight runs — six earned — on seven hits in four innings.
For Oakland, Max Muncy and Tyler Soderstrom hit home runs. Lawrence Butler went 3-for-the-day, and Zack Gelof stretched his hitting streak to 18 consecutive games. A’s outfielder Carlos Cortes was pressed into pitching duty in the eighth inning and proved to be Oakland’s most effective arm, allowing just one run and three hits over the final one and two-thirds innings.
The Athletics now head back to their temporary home in West Sacramento, California, where they’ll open a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.
