A's eager to continue power display in opener vs. Rockies

The Athletics are halfway through a six-game expedition in their future home city of Las Vegas. They will continue the stretch when they host the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.

The three-game series will cap a week in which the Athletics are trying to establish relationships in Las Vegas as well as perform good feats on the field.

The A's are slated to move to Las Vegas in time for the 2028 season and currently are playing home run derby at the Triple-A Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin on the western edge of the city.

The Athletics smashed 15 homers while taking two of three from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this week, matching the franchise record for a three-game span set in late June 1996 when Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi were the lead sluggers.

Nick Kurtz and Tyler Soderstrom each hammered three homers during the Milwaukee series, which featured a 15-14 slugfest in 12 innings won by the Brewers in the opener before the A's won the next two.

The 15th and final homer was a big one as Lawrence Butler, mired in a season-long slump, belted a 463-foot, two-run blast to give the A's a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning on Wednesday. The margin held up.

"It felt good seeing nobody finally catch the ball when I hit it," Butler said. "That was a great feeling. It was an even better feeling just to be able to put my team on top. All I want to do is help the team. Giving the team a lead was everything for me."

Butler, 25, has a measly .165/.251/.256 slash line through 61 games. He has just four homers and seven total extra-base hits.

Butler hit 22 homers in 2024 and 21 last season, and he's one of the players the team signed to a long-term extension as part of their future.

A's manager Mark Kotsay was pleased with the excitement level he saw from Butler after Wednesday's huge blast.

"There's a different energy about him," Kotsay said. "Obviously, he's an emotional kid. We know that. We've watched him for the last two years, and he wears it hard. There's nobody in that room that wants it more than he does.

"That moment, he needs to just really cherish it and be ready to come out Friday and continue forward."

The Rockies just took two of three from the visiting Chicago Cubs, though they were blasted 9-3 in Thursday's series finale.

Outfielder Cole Carrigg hit his first major league homer in the setback. It was the third career game for Carrigg, the club's No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Carrigg, 24, was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday when Tyler Freeman was placed on the 7-day concussion list. Carrigg is 3-for-11 with a triple in addition to the homer.

"You've got to understand that when they feel the timing is right, the timing is right for them," Carrigg said. "That was out of my control.

"You just have to stay where your feet are. If I do that, I'll put myself in a good position to play here for a long time."

Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer likes what he has seen from Carrigg.

"I've seen him be comfortable -- just step right in and play hard, the way he always plays," Schaeffer said. "That's what we want from him. We want to see the fire."

Athletics left-hander Gage Jump (2-1, 2.45 ERA) will make the fourth start of his rookie campaign.

Jump, 23, excelled while winning his last two starts as he gave up one run and six hits over 13 1/3 innings. In his most recent turn, he pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Houston Astros on Sunday in a 5-0 win.

Colorado plans to announce its starter on Friday.

--Field Level Media