A’s steal 5-4 win late with a pair of home runs

Seth Brown and Abraham Toro save the day as the A’s are back in the win column

As the A’s were down 4-2 in the seventh tonight against the Colorado Rockies, they were in desperate need of a big hit. With just three to that point after struggling to produce consistently for the last ten days on the road, Seth Brown had enough. His two-run 110 MPH missile home run 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 took the momentum all the way back with another home run, this time from Abraham Toro. It’s fitting for an A’s team that lives and dies by the home run ball, but tonight, it meant so much more.

The A’s stole the game away with a 5-4 win, and their eight-game losing streak is officially a thing of the past. It’s their first win since May 11th in Seattle moving to 20-30 on the season.

Aaron Brooks got the ball for the A’s and for the second start in a row, he did well enough to give the team a chance to win despite a few hiccups. Those hiccups came in the form of home runs, and the first one was three batters into the game when Ryan McMahon smacked 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 in the hit column, but they did it in grand style with a J.D. Davis solo missile to left. Its his third home run of the season and his first since March 29.

After the A’s blew a runner on third with one-out scenario in the fourth, Ezequiel Tovar made them pay with a solo shot in the next half inning. A two-run swing made the score 3-1.

Brooks found a groove in the middle innings throwing just 14 pitches over the fourth and fifth combined. His sixth and last inning was a bit more of a sweat as the vet worked out of a first and third two-out jam.

Brooks final line was six innings, six hits, a walk and three strikeouts. He continues to prove why he’s worth keeping in the A’s injury-plagued rotation currently, and he’s really given the team more than expected over his two starts. When he exited, Brooks was again in line for a loss he didn’t deserve but thankfully his offense picked him up soon after.

The A’s tallied a second run thanks to a few gifts off of Cal Quantrill in the sixth. With one out, JJ Bleday smoked a sinking line drive 50/50 ball to rookie Jordan Beck in left field, and Beck’s diving attempt completely whiffed to allow Bleday to scamper to third for a triple. He’d shortly score on a wild pitch right through the legs of catcher Elias Diaz to cut the lead in half.

Quantrill was still in complete control for the Rockies for the majority of Tuesday night, however. He threw six innings while allowing just three hits and striking out eight to continue his impressive stretch of starts.

Brooks gave way to Scott Alexander who was just activated off the Injured List today to make his A’s debut. Alexanders second batter of 2024, Tovar, greeted him with a golf-shot solo home run to left on a ball at his shoelaces. Tovar's first career two-home run day again put the Rockies ahead by two, 4-2, but his impressive day at the dish would be overshadowed by some late-inning action.

After Browns second home run in the last three games knotted things up, all the momentum shifted to the home side.

Lucas Erceg worked an Erceg-esque three up, three down eighth in relief, and Toro provided some more late-inning heroics with a go-ahead solo rocket to right field. It was an MLB leading 28th hit for the month of May for Toro, but it also gave the A’s their first lead of the game.

Then no close win would be complete without Mason Miller, and the righty was dominant yet again striking out the side. The last came against Tovar, the Rockies offensive hero tonight.

The win was far from perfect; the A’s got outhit 8-6 and recorded their MLB leading 37th error early in the game. Considering the circumstances, however, it’s more than enough. Both teams combined for six total home runs Tuesday, but the two most important came from the green and gold.

The two will line it up again tomorrow at the same 6:40 PM PDT first-pitch time with Joey Estes making his third start of the season for the A’s against southpaw Austin Gomber of the Rockies.