Abraham Toro led off the eighth inning with a tiebreaking home run to help the Oakland Athletics beat the visiting Colorado Rockies 5-4 in the opener of a three-game series Tuesday night.
J.D. Davis and Seth Brown also homered for the A’s, who ended an eight-game losing streak.
Ezequiel Tovar homered twice and Ryan McMahon added another blast for the Rockies, who have lost four in a row.
Zack Gelof drew a one-out walk in the seventh and Brown followed with his fifth homer of the year to tie the score 4-4. Toro hit his solo shot one inning later off Rockies reliever Tyler Kinley (2-1), who took the loss.
Lucas Erceg (2-2), who pitched a 1-2-3 top of the eighth to preserve a 4-4 tie, was credited with the win. A’s closer Mason Miller, who was called into a save situation for the first time since April 30, struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save.
Oakland center fielder JJ Bleday tripled with one out in the sixth and scored on a wild pitch, the only run of the game that wasn’t driven in via a homer.
The Rockies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to McMahon’s two-run homer, his eighth of the year. Davis hit his third homer of the season in the third to trim the A’s deficit to 2-1.
Tovar hit his first blast of the game in the fifth to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead. He added another solo shot in the seventh — his seventh homer of the year — to increase the lead to 4-2.
A’s starter Aaron Brooks allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Rockies starter Cal Quantrill went six innings, allowing two runs and three hits. He walked one and struck out eight.
Brent Rooker had two hits for the A’s, who were coming off a 1-9 trip.
The Rockies’ Elias Diaz collected three singles in the win.
–Field Level Media
