Two Brewers' All-Star candidacies severely impacted by poor conditions in Las Vegas

The first Major League Baseball game played in Las Vegas in 20 years lived up to the city's reputation for excess, as the Milwaukee Brewers outlasted the Athletics in a wild 15-14 slugfest on Monday, June 8. The matchup, which is being played at Las Vegas Ballpark, the home of the Athletics' Triple-A affiliate, is a unique one, as it marks the Athletics' only series in Las Vegas this season while construction continues on their future home stadium. Following a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies in Las Vegas this upcoming weekend, the Athletics will continue playing their home games in Sacramento.

Monday night's game turned into a nightmare for pitchers on both sides, with the two clubs combining for 29 runs and 11 home runs in an offensive explosion that was aided by small ballpark dimensions, a strong wind blowing out to center field that was aided by Las Vegas Ballpark's lack of a third deck, and a hard infield dirt resulting in multiple misplays from Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz that went down as hits in the scorebook. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, two Brewers pitchers may have seen their All-Star cases take a significant hit as a result of being one of three teams to have to play in a minor league ballpark with questionable conditions this year.

Dominant Brewers pitchers Kyle Harrison and Aaron Ashby victim of poor conditions in Las Vegas

Entering Monday night's game, starting pitcher Kyle Harrison owned a sparkling 1.57 ERA and had firmly established himself as one of the National League's top starting pitchers this season. However, the left-hander endured his roughest outing of the year, allowing eight earned runs over just 2.1 innings while surrendering three homers. The result was a significant jump in his ERA, which climbed to 2.72.

Reliever Aaron Ashby found himself in a similar predicament. He entered the game sporting a 2.35 ERA, but a rough 1.2-inning outing included two home runs allowed and caused that mark to balloon to 2.93. One of those long balls was a game-tying shot by Jonah Heim in the 10th inning that just cleared the fence. According to Statcast metrics, the fly ball would not have left the yard in any other Major League ballpark, highlighting just how much the hitter-friendly dimensions and conditions in Las Vegas worked against Ashby.

By night's end, both Harrison's and Ashby's once-pristine ERAs had taken significant jumps, potentially complicating their cases for All-Star selections. This damage inflicted in Las Vegas could leave both pitchers with some ground to make up over the next few weeks as they attempt to re-establish themselves among the National League's most deserving All-Star candidates.

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