Bauers homers and scores 3 times to pace Brewers past Athletics 9-5

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Jake Bauers hit a home run and scored three times and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 on Saturday.

Willy Adames, Rhys Hoskins and Garrett Mitchell had two hits apiece as the Brewers won their second straight in their final trip to the Coliseum. The A’s have announced intentions to play the next three seasons in Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season.

“I like what we did today,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Most of the breaks went our way today. Every close play went in our favor and we had a lot of soft hits.”

Seven of Milwaukee’s 10 hits were singles but the Brewers were active on the basepaths, creating a lot of their own good fortune.

Bauers’ running in the eighth was a perfect example. After drawing a one-out walk, Bauers scored from first base when Mitchell blooped a hit into short left field.

The Brewers also drew seven walks and scored four runs with two outs, including Bauers' two-run homer in the fifth.

“We have a lot of guys in here who are committed to playing the right way,” Bauers said. “When you do that you put yourself in situations to score extra runs, to get insurance runs when you need them. That’s been the mindset all year and it’s probably going to continue to be the mindset.”

Colin Rea (12-4) won his team-leading 12th game. Facing the A’s for the first time in his career, the right-hander retired 12 of the first 14 hitters he faced and had five strikeouts but was tagged for a pair of home runs while giving up four runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Rea’s 12 wins are double his total of last season. The 34-year-old, who had Tommy John surgery in 2016, had 14 career wins in his first five seasons in the majors.

“I felt really good today,” said Rea, who has not walked anyone in his last three starts covering 19 2/3 innings. “It doesn’t matter where we’re at or who we’re playing, we’re coming in with the same mentality, be aggressive, play our game and not try to do too much.”

Brent Rooker hit his 30th home run and had three RBIs for the A’s. JJ Bleday also went deep for Oakland.

Bauers walked and scored on Blake Perkins’ infield single in the second inning, homered off A’s starter Joe Boyle (3-6) in the fifth then walked and scored when Mitchell’s popup to short left fell in for a double in the eighth.

The Brewers did most of their damage in the second after Boyle was hit near his hip by a 95 mph line drive from Hoskins. Boyle, who was on the injured list earlier this season due to a lower back strain, stayed in the game after being checked on by a trainer and had a career-high eight strikeouts in five innings. He walked four and allowed five hits and five runs.

After Rooker cut Milwaukee’s four-run lead in half with a two-run home run in the sixth, the Brewers pulled away with one run in the eighth and three in the ninth.

The A’s scored once in the ninth and had runners at the corners before Bleday grounded out to end the game.

“We’ve been in both games (but) they’ve added on to leads, which is what good teams do,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “We gave away seven free bases in walks alone. Defensively we weren’t able to make plays today.”

ROSTER MOVE

Athletics: LHP Hogan Harris was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. RHP Dany Jiménez was optioned to Las Vegas.

UP NEXT

Brewers RHP Frankie Montas (6-8, 4.57 ERA), who pitched for Oakland from 2017-22, faces his former team in the series finale on Sunday. The A’s counter with RHP Joey Estes (5-6, 4.44).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb