Entering the series in Las Vegas, the potential for a high-scoring series was seen by many. It didn’t take long for the game to live up to it. In a marathon game that may go down as a classic this season, both teams rallied from four-run deficits and the game went into extra innings. It was the Brewers who just managed to come out on top, defeating the Athletics 15-14 in 12 innings.
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The Brewers gave starter Kyle Harrison a lead to work with before he even threw a pitch. Jackson Chourio had the first hit in Las Vegas with a one-out single, and William Contreras walked to move him into scoring position. Jake Bauers remained hot, singling to left to put the Brewers up 1-0.
After that, the home run derby commenced. It started with a leadoff home run by Shea Langeliers, tying the game at 1-1. Harrison recovered from there in the first, working around a walk to keep the Athletics at bay while striking out two. In the next inning, while the Athletics didn’t hit one out of the ballpark, deep back-to-back doubles by Zack Gelof and Alika Williams brought in a run to take a 2-1 lead.
In the third inning, it was the Brewers’ turn to blast some home runs. It started with Brice Turang, who followed a Chourio single with a massive 443 foot home run to center field, grabbing the lead 3-2.
Three batters later, Andrew Vaughn hit another one out to center. This one only traveled 420 feet, but it increased the lead to 4-2.
Unfortunately, the Athletics got to Harrison in the third inning. The first five batters all reached base against him. It started with two singles, a walk, and then an RBI single from Max Muncy that scored two. The fifth batter was Tyler Soderstrom, who homered to center for a 7-4 lead. After a strikeout, Gelof added another home run to increase it to 8-4. That was it for Harrison, and Murphy replaced him with Grant Anderson, who got out of the inning with no more damage.
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It was a night to forget for Harrison, and over the course of a season, may be the start you throw out when talking about him. He allowed eight runs in 2 1/3 innings, coming on eight hits and two walks. Three of those hits went for home runs and five were extra-base hits. He struck out four as well.
The fourth inning was an anomaly as neither team scored a run, one of the only combined scoreless innings of the game. That went back to normal in the fifth. Contreras hit a one-out single, and Vaughn brought him in with an RBI double, closing the gap to 8-5.
Anderson kept the Brewers in the game with 2 2/3 scoreless inning before Joel Kuhnel made his Brewers debut in the sixth. While he struck out the side, the Athletics did add on with a Nick Kurtz home run to push it back to a four-run deficit, 9-5. It was one of the weakest home runs of the year with a 97.4 EV, 36 degree launch angle, and a .150 xBA. To his credit, it would have been a home run in 29 of 30 MLB ballparks.
The Brewers did not give up. In the seventh, Chourio recorded his third hit of the day. Two batters later, Bauers hit his 12th home run of the season, closing the gap to 9-7.
Kuhnel started the eighth and recorded two more outs, adding a fourth strikeout as well. Drew Rom followed him after that, but could not escape the home run bug. Soderstrom hit his second home run of the day and pushed the gap to 10-7. He got out of the inning with a strikeout of Gelof to keep the score there.
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The woodpeckers kept pecking away. Luis Rengifo led off the eighth with a walk. Two batters later, Christian Yelich singled to center, and a throwing error by Bolte let Rengifo reach third and Yelich reach second. Then, with Chourio at the plate, Mark Leiter Jr. threw one to the backstop, normally not far enough to score but Rengifo was ready. He ran home and beat the throw, and it was back down to a two-run deficit. Chourio walked to give the Brewers another scoring chance, but Turang grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Rom kept the Athletics in check in the eighth to give the Brewers a chance in the ninth. It started with a Contreras single. Bauers then kept on walking, adding another to his season total to push Contreras into scoring position. Then, with Vaughn up (who is hot facing left-handed pitchers), on a 2-1 count manager Pat Murphy decided to pinch-run Blake Perkins for Bauers. Maybe it was a premonition, because on the next pitch, Vaughn doubled down the left field line, scoring both and tying the game at 10-10. Bauers might have scored on it regardless, but Perkins made it without a doubt.
Unfortunately, the Brewers couldn’t get ahead as Mitchell, Rengifo, and David Hamilton (who entered in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement) all struck out. It was up to Aaron Ashby to send it to extras, and he did that. He did allow a two-out single, but struck out two and the game went into extra innings.
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The Brewers were up first with Hamilton on second as the placed runner. Hogan Harris entered the game in relief for the Athletics. Yelich started it off with a single, moving Hamilton up but it hung too long for him to score. That didn’t matter as he scored on the next at-bat, with Chourio hitting a sacrifice fly to score Hamilton, and let Yelich reach second.
The Athletics then chose to intentionally walk Turang and face Contreras instead. After three balls far out of the strike zone, Contreras mashed a fastball down the middle. He hit it so hard that he ended up on his butt. He just watched it fly for a few seconds, as it was way out to center and flew 463 feet. The Brewers had a 14-10 lead.
With a four-run lead, Ashby was in position to vulture his 10th win of the season. The bottom of the inning started well enough, as Ashby struck out Gelof and then got Williams to ground out for the first two outs. Unfortunately, the home run derby continued. It started with a single by Langeliers to center to make it a 14-11 game. Then, Kurtz hit one out to right to make it a one-run game.
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The next batter, pinch-hitter Jonah Heim, hit what appeared to be a pop-up to end it. However, it kept carrying, and just snuck over the right field fence and over Perkins’ glove for another home run. If this was in an actual MLB park, it would not have been a home run in any of them. It only traveled 316 feet, had a 48 degree launch angle, and a 94.7 mph exit velocity. The game was tied at 14-14.
Murphy pulled Ashby for Uribe, who allowed another pop-up, but this one stayed in the park and landed in Chourio’s glove. The game kept going and went to the 11th.
José Suarez came in for the Athletics, with the bottom of the Brewers’ order up and Mitchell at second. This time, the Brewers couldn’t get anything going. Rengifo, Hamilton, and Yelich didn’t even put a ball in play, with all three striking out in order to end the inning.
That left it up to Uribe to get the game to the 12th inning. It started with a groundout from pinch-hitter Carlos Cortes that kept the runner at second for the first out. After the Brewers intentionally walked Soderstrom to set up the double play, Uribe struck out Bolte for the second out. He followed that up with a strikeout of Gelof, aided by a generous strike three call. It was the first combined scoreless inning since the fourth inning, and the game moved to the 12th.
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Yelich began the inning as the placed runner with Chourio at the plate. He immediately gave the Brewers a runner at third when he stole third without a throw. Chourio ended up striking out for the first out. Next up was Turang, and he hit a ground ball at second baseman Jeff McNeil. He went home with the throw, but it was off and Yelich scored. Turang wasn’t aware so he didn’t advance to second, but the Brewers had a 15-14 lead.
The Brewers couldn’t add on to that, though were almost gifted a baserunner when a two-out ground ball from Perkins almost pulled Kurtz off the bag, but he just held the bag on review. Murphy went to Patrick for the bottom of the 12th, holding on to a one-run lead with Gelof placed at second.
The Athletics went the safe route and had Williams bunt, which worked perfectly for them and moved Gelof to third. It brought up a tense battle with Langeliers, and Patrick won it by striking him out. Murphy then chose to walk Kurtz intentionally, and Jeff McNeil came in to pinch-hit. Patrick struck him out and the Brewers came away winners, 15-14.
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This game set several high marks for offense this season. The two teams combined for 29 runs and 11 home runs, both season highs in a single game. The teams also combined to make 16 ABS challenges, with 11 of them overturned. There were 34 hits, 11 walks, and 35 strikeouts. It was also one of the longest games of the season, coming in at 4 hours and 14 minutes.
Here is a full list of the home runs. While the ball was flying tonight, most of the home runs were good ones. Eight of the 11 would have been out in all 30 MLB parks, and 10 would have been out in at least 25 of them. For reference, between all eight MLB games today, there were 21 home runs hit, and 11 came in this game.
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Langeliers (17, 1st inning, 483 feet)
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Turang (10, 3rd inning, 443 feet)
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Vaughn (2, 3rd inning, 420 feet)
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Soderstrom (9, 3rd inning, 434 feet)
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Gelof (7, 3rd inning, 391 feet)
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Kurtz (13, 6th inning, 374 feet)
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Bauers (12, 7th inning, 457 feet)
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Soderstrom (10, 7th inning, 418 feet)
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Contreras (6, 10th inning, 463 feet)
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Kurtz (14, 10th inning, 447 feet)
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Heim (4, 10th inning, 316 feet)
For the Brewers, Vaughn led the team in hits with a 4-for-6 day, driving in four as well. He had a home run, two doubles, and a single, finishing a triple short of the cycle. Chourio and Contreras each reached base four times with three hits and a walk. Turang, Contreras, and Bauers each drove in three runs. Every starter reached base at least twice except for Mitchell, who went 0-for-6.
As for the pitching staff, let’s not say too much there. Every pitcher did strike out at least two batters as they combined for 20 strikeouts. Anderson, Uribe, and Patrick had scoreless appearances. Unfortunately, they did give up seven of the 11 home runs hit in the game. They did use seven relievers in the game, with Trevor Megill the only reliever who did not pitch. Also, despite the eight runs given up, the Brewers won their ninth straight game with Harrison starting.
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It’s going to be a short rest before tomorrow’s game, as this was just the first game of a three-game series. The encore will take place tomorrow evening at 9:05 p.m., with Robert Gasser set to face J.T. Ginn.
