Las Vegas Ballpark proves to be hitters' paradise in Brewers' chaotic win over Athletics

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Athletics squared off in the first-ever Major League Baseball game played at Las Vegas Ballpark last night. The Athletics, who were the long-time occupants of the Oakland Coliseum in the Bay Area, are moving into a ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip, which is currently being constructed, at the beginning of the 2028 season, but currently play their home games in Sacramento.

However, in an effort to build the Athletics' Las Vegas fanbase, the team decided to play one homestand during the 2026 season at Las Vegas Ballpark -- the home of their Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators. That homestand kicked off last night with a matchup against the Brew Crew, who rolled into Sin City on the heels of a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies.

After playing three games a mile above sea level, during which the Brewers' offense scored a total of 28 runs, fans may have expected Milwaukee's bats to cool down as they traveled to Las Vegas, which is roughly 3,000 feet closer to sea level than Coors Field. However, at 2,000 feet of elevation, Las Vegas Ballpark would still rank as the second-highest ballpark in Major League Baseball.

Paired with the hot, dry air in Las Vegas, and the fact that Las Vegas Ballpark doesn't have a third deck, which allows a wind blowing out to center field (which was certainly present last night) to have a greater impact on fly balls, the Athletics' temporary home was unsurprisingly a hitters' paradise in last night's series opener.

Brewers and Athletics combine for 29 runs during extra-innings thriller in Sin City

In an 12-inning thriller that lasted more than four hours, the Brewers defeated the Athletics by a score of 15-14. At least one run was scored by one of the two teams in every inning but the 11th. The Brewers and Athletics combined for 34 hits, eleven of which were home runs. Of those eleven combined home runs, only two traveled less than 390 feet; six traveled more than 430 feet. Seemingly every ball that was hit in the air had a chance of leaving the ballpark.

The game started with Kyle Harrison's first truly rough outing of the year, which carries a large asterisk given the setting. The Brewers' southpaw allowed eight earned runs and three homers in just 2.1 innings of work, raising his season-long ERA from 1.57 to 2.72. Proponents of Harrison earning the first All-Star Game appearance of his young career this season will most certainly have a gripe with the Athletics and Major League Baseball deciding to play in this hitters' paradise in early June.

Milwaukee found themselves down 8-4 in the third inning, but given the ballpark, the Brewers were never truly out of the game. An RBI-double from Andrew Vaughn, who had four hits, four RBI, two doubles, and a homer in last night's contest, pulled the Brewers within three runs in the fifth inning, but Nick Kurtz's first of two homers on the night extended the Athletics' lead back to four in the bottom of the sixth.

In the seventh inning, Jake Bauers, who is building a legitimate case for the All-Star Game, crushed his 12th homer of the season -- a two-run shot that pulled the Brew Crew to within two runs. However, the Athletics responded in the bottom of the frame; Tyler Soderstrom's second homer of the game gave them a three-run lead heading into the eighth. A wild pitch allowed Luis Rengifo to score in the top of the eighth, and Drew Rom held the Athletics scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, setting the Brewers up for a thrilling ninth inning.

Down two runs in the ninth, William Contreras, who caught all 12 innings last night, led off the inning with a single, and Bauers followed with a six-pitch walk. Pat Murphy pinch-ran Blake Perkins for Bauers, which came in handy when the next batter, Vaughn, lined a double off the left-field wall. Both runs came around to score, and after Aaron Ashby shut down the Athletics in the bottom of the ninth, the game headed to extra innings.

A sacrifice fly from Jackson Chourio and a three-run bomb from Contreras gave the Brewers a four-run lead in the top of the 10th. Contreras ended up sitting on the ground after losing his balance on the big swing, but the ball still traveled 463 feet over the center field wall.

With Ashby on the bump in the bottom of the 10th, Kurtz crushed his second homer of the game -- a two-run shot -- following an RBI single from Shea Langeliers, and pulled the Athletics within one run, setting up the most egregious example of a ballpark-aided fly ball of the night. One out away from a win, Ashby induced what seemed to be a lazy pop fly to right field off the bat of Jonah Heim, which was hit just 95 mph with a launch angle of 48 degrees. However, the ball carried over the fence and the game once again entered into a tie.

Abner Uribe closed out the 10th inning and pitched a scoreless 11th, before the Brewers scored one run in the top of the 12th frame thanks to some excellent baserunning by Christian Yelich. Yeli stole third base and then scored on a ground ball to second baseman Jeff McNeil off the bat of Brice Turang. Chad Patrick, the former Athletic, tossed a scoreless bottom of the 12th and the Brewers escaped with a victory in what was one of the craziest games in recent history.

The Brewers are back at it tonight, in what could certainly be another slugfest. Robert Gasser gets the ball for the Brewers opposing the talented J.T. Ginn of the Athletics. First pitch is once again slated for 9:05 p.m. CT.

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