Milwaukee Brewers 15 at Athletics 14 (12) - June 8, 2026

This season, the Athletics are playing six games in Las Vegas in an attempt to gain a fan following in advance of their move there in 2028. The schedule worked nicely with the two teams I needed to see in Long Beach and Ontario, so I planned a six-day trip, reaching Vegas on Sunday evening. Fellow sports traveler Kevin was also on the same itinerary and I mooched a ride from him rather than rent a car myself. The next day, we headed out to Summerlin, where Las Vegas Ballpark is located.

These one-off (or six-off in this case) events attract a large following from our group and Kevin organized a meetup at MacKenzie River, a pub in the Vegas Golden Knights practice facility just north of the ballpark. There were 12 of us there and we enjoyed sharing the same stories we always do. The pub has a great happy hour until 5:00, after which you can go to the Lazy Dog on the other side of the ballpark, as their happy hour goes until 6:00.

The stadium is home to the Athletics minor league team, the Las Vegas Aviators, and I visited here when it opened in 2019. Things haven't changed since then, so I won't write too much about it. There is a parking lot on the east side of the ballpark that is free for the minor league games and amazingly the Athletics decided to keep it free for these two series. From here, you enter via the back of the ballpark where you will find the swimming pool.

If you want a hard stub, you can go around to the front of the ballpark and get a standing room ticket for just $15. 

The Red Rock Casino (in the right background below) is a good place to stay if you are attending multiple games, though it can be a bit pricey when compared to some of the hotels on the Strip.

I attended two games here, sitting in the club for one and then buying a standing room ticket and sitting with one of our group who had scoped out seats a few rows behind the first base dugout. Generally at minor league parks, ushers are pretty forgiving, and that didn't change here.

The club (above) doesn't have any free food or drinks, but it does offer a climate controlled area in which to cool down. The view from my club seat is below.

One cool touch was having Bruce Buffer announce the Athletics starting lineups before the first game.

Stomper came to visit us during the second game. He seemed pretty excited about the move to Vegas, where he can get a second job at Cirque.

The team will run another six-game series again next year if you didn't have a chance to get there this time. It's certainly fun to watch a major league game in such intimate settings, though the game itself suffers a bit from the elevation and heat.

The Game

The Brewers were visiting for the first three games of the series and sent Kyle Harrison to the mound for the opener against Jeffrey Springs. After Milwaukee scored a run in the first, Shea Langeliers led off the bottom half with a monster homer that measured 483 feet, longest of the season. This was a sign of things to come. The Brewers homered twice in the third to go up 4-2, only for the Athletics to plate six in the bottom half to chase Harrison, with two more homers among the damage.

After Milwaukee got one back in the fifth, Nick Kurtz homered an inning later to regain the 4-run lead. Jake Bauers got into the act in the 7th with a 2-run shot, but a Tyler Soderstrom blast, his second of the game, put the A's up 10-7. They led 10-8 entering the 9th, but William Contreras walked, Bauers singled, and Andrew Vaughn doubled both home. Hogan Harris struck out the next three batters and when the Athletics failed to score in their half, we had extra innings. Contreras mashed a 3-run bomb as part of a 4-run tenth and it looked like Milwaukee would win, but Kurtz homered to get it to 14-13. Jonah Heim pinch hit and popped up to right field but the ball carried and carried and carried over the fence for the worst home run in MLB history. It had an xBA of .000, in other words, a guaranteed out. It would have been a homer in 0/30 parks. Whatever the case, it counts here and we went to the 11th 14-14. Surprisingly, neither team scored and Milwaukee cashed in the ghost runner in the 12th.

The Athletics got their ghostie to third but Langeliers struck out and after Kurtz was intentionally walked, Jeff McNeil struck out to finally end things, 4:14 after they began. There were 11 combined homers (the MLB record is 13) and 34 hits, not to mention 16 ABS challenges, with 11 overturned, a reflection on a bad game from Clint Vondrak. Some thought it was the 'Game of the Year' but I found it laughable. With that, we headed back to the strip and tried to figure out what we had seen. Thanks to Kevin for the rides. 

Notes

The new ballpark is taking shape on the site of the Tropicana hotel. It should be open for the 2028 season, and I should be back there to see the Jays play that season.

The over/under was 11 and many bettors with knowledge of the ballpark won money taking the over. Vegas raised the over/under on the following games to 13.5 or 14.5 and the next four games ended up hitting the under, before the Rockies scored a franchise-record 23 on Sunday afternoon. 

Best,

Sean