Jackpot! Rockies ring up 23 runs for 1st time in franchise history

LAS VEGAS -- The way the Rockies’ series finale against the Athletics started, it looked like a win in Sin City just wasn’t in the cards.

Tomoyuki Sugano gave up four runs in the first inning and eight across five frames, but Colorado’s high-octane offense didn’t flinch as they barreled their way to a 23-9 victory over the A’s on Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Ballpark.

It was the most runs the Rockies have scored in franchise history, breaking the previous mark of 20, which had been done four times (most recently on July 24, 2024 vs. Boston).

The Rockies also walloped a single-game season-high six homers and 24 hits to go along with five walks.

Hunter Goodman (5-for-6 with two homers and four RBIs), Kyle Karros (4-for-6 with two RBIs), Ezequiel Tovar (3-for-6), Troy Johnston (2-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBIs) and Willi Castro (4-for-6 with two homers and seven RBIs) all contributed to the offensive outburst. Castro, an eight-year veteran, had never had more than three RBIs in a single game before Sunday’s record-breaking performance.

In all, the Rockies had seven players with multiple hits and six with multiple RBIs. Despite his line, Sugano picked up his seventh win of the season.

Colorado rattled off a combined 15 hits -- producing nine runs -- in its first two games against the A’s in Las Vegas. The Rox came away from those with a pair of defeats knowing a high-scoring game may be needed to pull off a win, and they turned around and produced a performance for the ages.

“I don’t ever foresee a game like this. This is an outlier, big time,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “But I always feel like something good is going to happen when our team takes the field. I feel like the way we’ve been conducting our at-bats, and the way we’ve been going about our business, the progression of that as the year has gone on has consistently gotten better.”

The historical significance of this performance will be talked about in Colorado for some time.

One of the biggest moments was an eighth inning grand slam from Castro, his second deep shot of the day and fifth of the year, which officially cracked the all-time single-game scoring record for the Rockies. Castro demolished a 76.1 mph curveball from Scott Barlow to the tune of a 104.5 mph exit velocity.

Goodman became the first Rox player since Nolan Arenado (21) in 2016 to hit 20-plus homers over the team’s first 72 games. It was his eighth career multihomer game and the third this season -- with all of them coming on the road. The five hits were also a career best for the catcher.

“It was awesome [to create franchise history],” Goodman said. “Our at-bats today were really good. I thought we fought and when they made mistakes, we took advantage of them. Hopefully we can take that momentum into Chicago.”

Goodman’s first dinger gave the Rockies an immediate lead in the top of the first inning. It was a two-run shot to dead center as he obliterated a poorly placed 92.4 mph four-seamer from A’s starter Jeffrey Springs.

Goodman’s second blast was a no-doubt smack that sent a 97.4 mph sinker from Luis Medina way over the left-field wall.

“When you have it going, it’s just at-bat to at-bat,” Goodman said of his career-best day. “Every time you walk up there, you try to say you’re 0-for-0 and attack the different pitchers and situations with a different approach.”

The Rockies (27-45) haven’t won as many games as they would have liked this year, that much is clear. However, with the recent emergence of young talent -- particularly on offense -- the good times may not be too far away.

The Rox will get a chance to see if the momentum they picked up in Las Vegas is for real when they face the Cubs (37-35) at Wrigley Field over the next three days. But with the win over the A’s snapping a three-game losing skid, Colorado will make sure to properly celebrate this one, too.

“Wins are fun around here,” Schaeffer said. “We make them fun because it’s hard to win a game in the big leagues. … [And the performance] was great. The boys came prepared to play today. … It’s one of 162, but every day matters. How you go about your business every day matters, and they did a great job today.”