Butler’s HR helps A’s rally to beat Brewers in series finale — PHOTOS

by · Las Vegas Review-Journal

Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler just missed on a home run in the fifth inning on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers as his fly ball was a few feet shot of clearing the deepest part of center field.

Butler didn’t miss on his chance in the seventh inning.

The A’s right fielder crushed a two-run homer to center field in the seventh inning, which helped the A’s rally to defeat the Brewers 4-3 Wednesday at Las Vegas Ballpark in the series finale between the two teams.

The A’ (33-35) are off Thursday, then begin a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies at 7:05 p.m. Friday in Las Vegas.

Butler’s home run was the highlight in a three-run inning as the A’s crushed their 13th, 14th and 15th homers of the three-game set with Milwaukee (41-25) to complete the come-from-behind victory.

The A’s did not showcase the same firepower on offense Wednesday as they did in the first two games while only having one hit through the first five innings.

With Milwaukee leading 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, Carlos Cortes, who did not play Tuesday, led off the inning with a solo home runs to the the deficit to one run.

Zack Gelof followed by extending his career-high hitting streak to 15 games with a double off the right field wall. Gelof scored on Butler’s two-run homer.

Andrew Vaughn’s RBI single in the first inning gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. Gary Sanchez and Jackson Chourio each hit solo homers in the second and third, respectively, to put the Brewers ahead 3-0.

A’s shortstop Alika Williams recorded his first MLB home run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a line drive shot to left field to cut the Brewers’ lead to 3-1. Williams led the A’s going 2-for-3.

Williams’ homer was the only blemish for Milwaukee starter Brandon Sproat. The Brewers’ right-hander was dealt a no-decision after tossing six quality innings, with one run allowed on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk on 68 pitches.

The first four-and-a-half innings were played without the ABS system. Home plate umpire Brock Ballou announced during the second inning that the ABS will be “inoperable until further notice” and teams were not allowed to challenge.

Ballou announced the ABS was back to full operations before the start of the bottom of the fourth inning. It’s the second straight A’s game at Las Vegas Ballpark that there was an ABS issue, after the system experienced “technical difficulties” on a challenge late in Tuesday’s game.