Willi Castro hit two home runs and drove in seven runs to lead the visiting Colorado Rockies to a 23-9 win over the Athletics on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Castro hit a two-run homer in the second and a grand slam in the eighth to finish 4-for-6 as the Rockies set a franchise record for runs in a game to avoid being swept in the three-game set.
Hunter Goodman also hit a pair of home runs and drove in four runs. He went 5-for-6 and came up a triple short of the cycle. Troy Johnston added a home run and four RBIs as the Rockies pounded out 24 hits and six home runs while scoring the most runs in a Major League Baseball game this season.
A’s starter Jeffrey Springs (3-7) gave up seven hits and six runs in four innings. The southpaw didn’t walk anyone and struck out five. Tyler Soderstrom and Max Muncy homered for the Athletics, who amassed 15 hits.
Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano (7-4) was battered by the A’s, giving up nine hits and eight runs in five innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out two.
Eiberson Castellano picked up the save in his major league debut as he allowed no runs over the final three innings.
Goodman’s first homer came in the first after Tyler Freeman reached on an error with one out. The catcher made it 2-0 with a 421-foot shot to right center.
The A’s fought back to take the lead with four runs in their half of the first.
Soderstrom doubled in a run and Carlos Cortes singled in two to make it 3-2. Muncy then hit a drive to left and Johnston made a great catch, but Cortes was able to score the fourth run on the sacrifice fly.
Colorado regained a 5-4 lead in the second when Castro capped a three-run inning with a two-run blast. The A’s tied it with a run in the second, but then the flood gates really opened.
Johnston hit a two-run homer to highlight a three-run fourth, then the Rockies feasted on reliever Luis Medina for six runs in the fifth. Goodman led off with his 20th homer, the most among Major League catchers.
The next four Rockies reached base and all scored to make it 14-8.
When Castro crashed his 444-foot grand slam in the eighth, it pushed Colorado’s lead to 22-9 and broke the franchise’s single-game mark of 20 runs.
