The Athletics are making themselves at home in Las Vegas and will look to stretch their winning streak to four games when they battle the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night in the middle contest of a three-game series.
The A’s are 3-1 during a six-game excursion to the city they will call home in 2028 after beating the Rockies 6-4 in Friday’s series opener.
The Athletics took two of three games from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this week. Shea Langeliers (450 feet) and Nick Kurtz (471) smashed booming homers on Friday to give the A’s 17 in four games at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Kurtz’s blast is the longest in the majors this season. He passed the 467-foot homer that Langeliers crushed on April 15.
The Athletics also got a huge boost from Lawrence Butler, mired in a season-long slump but showing signs of emerging from it.
Inserted as a pinch hitter earlier in Friday’s game, Butler took advantage of a throwing error by Colorado catcher Hunter Goodman to score the go-ahead run at 5-4 in the seventh inning. In the eighth, his RBI single gave the A’s an insurance run toward the 6-4 win.
“It felt good being able to put the ball in play and see it hit the ground. Also got a clutch hit against a lefty to bring in another run and made some good plays [on defense]. I’m just hoping things start turning around for me,” Butler said.
The Athletics had 2025 American League All-Star starting shortstop Jacob Wilson (separated left shoulder) back in the lineup Friday, and he went 0-for-3 with a run and a walk. It was Wilson’s first appearance since suffering the injury on May 10.
But the A’s didn’t get back to full strength, as designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker (bruised left knee) was placed on the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move.
Rooker, a two-time All-Star, is batting just .200 while dealing with injuries this season. He has 10 homers and 29 RBIs in 48 games.
“The knee just wasn’t improving,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “It wasn’t staying stable. It was getting worse. From that standpoint, we made the decision to IL him. He did have a cortisone injection into the knee, which should hopefully help the healing process.
“The outlook right now is there’s a chance we get him back (within) the 10 days, but we’re going to make sure this thing is healed before we make the decision to put him back out there.”
The Rockies have lost six of their past eight games but might have a budding star in outfielder Cole Carrigg, rated as their No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline. He was a second-round draft pick in 2023 out of San Diego State.
Carrigg hit a three-run blast in the sixth inning Friday to give Colorado a 4-2 lead.
“Cole looked great,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s just playing hard. I love watching him play.”
Carrigg has played in four major league games and has homered in each of the last two. He is 4-for-15 with four RBIs and has a triple in addition to the two homers.
Carrigg, 24, was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday, when Tyler Freeman was placed on the seven-day concussion list.
Left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-6, 7.81 ERA) will start for the Rockies on Saturday. He is winless over his past eight starts and is 0-5 with a 10.13 ERA during the stretch.
Freeland received a no-decision in his last turn, when he allowed three runs and seven hits over five innings in his team’s 12-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last Sunday.
Freeland is 1-2 with a 4.80 ERA in three career starts against the Athletics.
Right-hander Joey Estes will make his first major league start of the season for the A’s. Estes, 24, was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this week and will pitch in a familiar ballpark. That said, he was just 2-6 with a 5.95 ERA in 12 starts for the Aviators.
Estes has made 30 appearances (28 starts) for the Athletics over the past three seasons and is 7-12 with a 5.51 ERA. He is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career outings against the Rockies.
–Field Level Media
