Lawrence Butler smashed three home runs, while Brent Rooker and Seth Brown each hit two, powering the Oakland Athletics to an 18-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
Butler drove in six runs, and Rooker matched his career high with five RBIs for Oakland, a team that came into the game with one of the lowest win totals in baseball and trailing Seattle by 16 games in the AL West. The Athletics’ eight home runs combined for an estimated 3,340 feet.
“The distance those home runs traveled almost sounds like the journey back to Oakland,” manager Mark Kotsay quipped. “Our hitters really connected well today. There weren’t any cheap homers out there.”
Zack Gelof added a grand slam in the ninth inning, hitting it off Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs.
Trea Turner homered for the Phillies, who entered the game with the most wins in baseball and a comfortable lead of 9 ½ games over the Braves in the NL East.
Philadelphia had hoped to set a club record with 62 wins before the All-Star Game, aiming to match the NL record set by the 1973 and 1974 Dodgers.
“We were thoroughly beaten today, but we had a solid first half,” Turner acknowledged.
Alec Bohm contributed two doubles for the Phillies, increasing his MLB-leading total to 33. Turner and Bohm are among the franchise-record eight All-Stars for Philadelphia.
Joey Estes (4-4) pitched six strong innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits.
“He had a really solid outing,” Kotsay praised.
The loss marked only the third home series defeat for Philadelphia this season and their first since dropping consecutive series to Atlanta and Cincinnati at the start of the year.
Butler’s three home runs came as two-run shots in the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings. His final homer traveled 449 feet into the second deck in right-center field.
“I was just looking to make solid contact,” Butler recounted. “I hit it the way I wanted and it went a long way.”
It was the first time in his career, at any level, that he had hit three home runs in a single game.
“That was a pretty special moment,” he reflected.
Rooker capped off a stellar three-game series in Philadelphia, going 7 for 12 with a double, three home runs, and seven RBIs.
