Rockies obliterate franchise record with 23 runs in romp over A’s

Rockies Report, Game 72:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Well, that’s how you snap out of a funk.

The home of the AAA Las Vegas Aviators has been kind to batters all week during the A’s six-game Sin City homestand, offering Nevada fans a taste of what is to come when they move into their under-construction ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip in 2028. But Sunday was another matter entirely.

Hunter Goodman ignited the onslaught with a two-run first-inning homer. Colorado briefly fell behind after four-consecutive A’s reached base to open the bottom of the first, with all crossing the plate. But a Troy Johnston RBI groundout and the first of two Willi Castro homers nudged the Rox back in front 5-4 midway through the second; they never trailed after that.

Castro helped cap the onslaught with an eighth-inning grand slam, part of a five-run inning that put the finishing touches on the day. The Rox put up crooked numbers in the first, second, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth innings. The A’s managed 15 hits — with six players reaching base at least twice apiece — but the Rockies’ barrage was too much in the 101-degree heat.

The Rockies and A’s’ combined run total and hit tally — 39 — were season-highs for Major League Baseball. The A’s allowed their highest run tally since 1955 — 38 years before the Rox came into existence.

Colorado improved to 27-45.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Under normal circumstances, Tomoyuki Sugano would have never been in position to qualify for the win he for which he was credited Sunday. The A’s tagged him for eight runs over five innings, including a four-run first inning when Sugano allowed the first four batters he faced to reach base.

But Colorado’s explosion bought Sugano some space and grace. By the time he took to the mound in the second inning, the 4-2 deficit after the first inning had become a 5-4 lead. He allowed runs in four of the five innings he worked.

But given how the ball was jumping Sunday afternoon, limiting the A’s to a single home run — a 2-run shot from Max Muncy in the fifth inning — was an accomplishment, especially given Sugano’s 1.6 HR/9-inning rate and the fact that Rockies batters smashed six dingers on the afternoon.

The eight earned runs allowed by Sugano were the most by a starting pitcher credited with a win in club history, matching Antonio Senzatela on July 14, 2019 against the Cincinnati Reds and Brian Bohanon on June 6, 1999 against the Seattle Mariners. Both of those came at Coors Field, giving Sugano the distinction for most earned runs allowed by a winning starting pitcher in Rox annals.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Colorado tacked on four seventh-inning runs, three of which came home on extra-base hits from TJ Rumfield (triple) and Goodman and Ezequiel Tovar (both doubles).

NUMBER TO NOTE: 1.598 — The Rockies’ collective OPS in Sunday’s game.

WHAT’S NEXT: A three-game series at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs, from which the Rox took two of three last week. Michael Lorenzen and Shota Imanaga will duel. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. on Monday night.