Rooker, Aguilar’s historic feat powers A’s win vs. Angels originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Athletics have a long and storied history and Monday night saw a new entry to their franchise lore.
Brent Rooker and Jesús Aguilar became the first pair of A’s teammates to homer in back-to-back appearances twice in Oakland’s 11-10 extra-innings win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium.
Overall, that is the fifth time in A’s franchise history that a pair of teammates have gone back-to-back in a single game.
“Yeah, the guys swung the bats really well and I think it was mentioned that it was the first time in A’s history that two teammates have gone back-to-back twice in a game, which is saying something because this team’s history, there’s been a lot of big hitters, big power hitters,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters after the game.
“We swung the bats tonight and it was good to see. Guys were aggressive and we played a little offense as well.”
After Esteury Ruiz and Jordan Diaz flew out to Angels star Mike Trout to start the game, Rooker stepped up to the plate against Los Angeles pitcher Jose Suarez. On the first pitch he saw, Rooker blasted a 93-mph fastball to left field to give Oakland the lead.
Seeing his teammate blast a middle-middle fastball to the seats, Aguilar waited until the fourth pitch — an 84-mph changeup — to smash his own home run, this time to left center field.
Kevin Smith joined in on the action as well, drilling a three-run home run off Suarez to make it a 5-0 game early. In the third inning, Rooker worked a full count before unloading on a pitch, sending it into the seats in left field yet again for his second homer of the night and his sixth of the season.
With Aguilar at the plate, Suarez threw a pitch almost in the exact same location as Rooker’s home run. Lo and behold, the veteran blasted the ball to center field, hitting Trout’s glove before falling over the fence for his fourth home run.
However, the Angels slowly chipped away at the A’s lead, tying it at eight runs apiece. A’s catcher Shea Langeliers almost hit a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning to give Oakland the lead, but Taylor Ward snared it before any harm was done.
Oakland then scored three runs in the tenth inning to finally put Los Angeles away for good.
“I think it was pretty crazy, especially being in the training room and hearing the fans kind of react to everything before I saw it,” A’s starter Ken Waldichuk said to reporters after the win. “Definitely a crazy game.
“But our boys swung it pretty well and they picked us up.”
In all, the five home runs Oakland hit against Los Angeles were the most hit since 2021 and the six-run lead it had in the game was the largest lead of the season for the A’s. Combined, the duo went 5-for-8, with five RBI and four homers.
“This is a great win,” Kotsay continued. “For these guys to battle, to show that fight that we talk about, the grit they’ve shown through this start, we’re going to continue to compete, continue to try to win each game and they showed that tonight.”
Of note, this isn’t the first time Rooker has shown off his power and what he can do at the plate. On April 13, the outfielder went 2-for-4 with five RBI in the A’s 8-7 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, hitting two home runs as well.
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With Rooker and Aguilar finding their groove and settling into the four and five spots in the lineup, Oakland can rely on them to provide the power the team has been searching for early in the season.
And considering not much has gone right for the A’s so far in 2023, fans have to be happy to see Rooker and Aguilar producing and giving hope to a struggling squad.