Athletics wild first game in Las Vegas leads to 29 runs, 11 home runs in ominous sign for area's MLB future
The team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics is now playing its home games in West Sacramento, on its way to moving to a brand-new stadium on The Strip in Las Vegas.
But in order to build up the fanbase in their eventual home, the A's have scheduled six home games at Las Vegas Ballpark this week. That stadium, which typically hosts the Las Vegas Aviators, a Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, is located in the Summerlin area of the Vegas Valley. Sitting on the west side of the city means it's at the base of the nearby mountains. It also means the stadium sits at an elevation of over 3,000 feet.
Well, sure enough, Monday night's game between the Athletics and Brewers, even though the stadium has larger dimensions than an average Major League Baseball ballpark, led to one of the wildest outcomes of this season. Or any season. All thanks to being played at higher elevation than any park in baseball other than Coors Field in Denver.
The game finished 15-14 in 12 innings, just the 18th time that score has happened in any Major League game since 1900. It's only happened twice this century, and not since 2019. It was the highest scoring game of the year, by a fairly wide margin. On May 31, the Giants beat the Rockies 19-6 in, you guessed it, Colorado.
But it's not just the score that's unusual and unexpected. It was how the teams got there.
The Brewers and A's combined for a whopping 11 homers. The A's, even in a losing effort, hit seven by themselves. Two Athletics players hit two home runs each, lefties Tyler Soderstrom and Nick Kurtz. There were 31 hits between the two teams. There were 14 different pitchers used, and an incredible 441 pitches thrown, easily surpassing the previous high this year. Oh, and once the game reached the 10th inning, the Brewers scored four in the top of the inning...only to allow the A's to tie the game by scoring four runs in the bottom of the 10th.
But there's even more to it than that.
Thanks to the elevation, there were a number of extreme outlier home runs, including one from Brewers catcher William Contreras. Contreras hit a 463-foot home run, the second longest of the year, and managed to fall to his backside in the process.
On the other hand, with the ball carrying further, there was arguably the most unlikely homer of the season hit as well.
First, some backstory. With the A's down 14-11 in the bottom of the 10th, Nick Kurtz came up with a runner on second as the team's last hope. On a 2-2 count, one strike away from the game ending, he launched a ball 110 mph and 447 feet to make the score 14-13.
A's catcher Jonah Heim pinch hit, and hit what can only be described as a routine pop-up...which carried over the fence for a game-tying home run.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Just look at the catcher's reaction after seeing the contact. Contreras has played hundreds of baseball games in his professional career. He's seen countless fly balls hit off the bat. And he was so convinced it was a game-ending flyout, he stood up and clapped his glove in celebration.
And then it carried 398 feet and over the fence, despite just a 94.6mph exit velocity. How unlikely was it that Heim's ball would wind up being a home run? Well per MLB's Baseball Savant Statcast tracking, it was a home run in 0/30 MLB ballparks. The expected batting average was quite literally .000. Every single time a ball is hit with that exit velocity and launch angle combo, it's an out. Except in Las Vegas.
It was already clear that the move to Las Vegas would be an adjustment for the team and the league. But this game and how it played out highlights just how much of an adjustment it'll be. The A's new stadium is being built on The Strip, not in Summerlin, meaning it's at a slightly lower elevation. Closer to 2,300 feet instead of 3,000. Still, it's clear the ball is going to fly out of that park. And with similar expected dimensions in the new facility, it could be yet another high-scoring slugfest when they move in for the 2028 season.
The roof may help some, especially when it's closed in the hot summer months. But if this is how the Vegas games are going to go, A's pitchers are going to be furious. And A's hitters will be must-adds in fantasy baseball. Just a few more years to find out.