Houston Astros at Athletics

WEST SACRAMENTO – Brent Rooker arrived to the Athletics as a waiver claim in November 2022 while seriously contemplating forgoing a Spring Training invite to pursue opportunities in Japan. You could easily understand why Rooker was considering the move. Baseball overseas is often a more lucrative opportunity to keep the Major League dream alive for players on the fringe, especially one such as Rooker, who was about to join his fourth organization in three years. Rooker ultimately gave it one last shot stateside with the A’s. Safe to say, that decision has paid off. Nearly four years later, he’s emerged as a two-time All-Star and leader of this young ballclub, and when the A’s needed him most on Sunday afternoon, the slugger delivered not once, but twice with a two-homer game. First was a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh, then came a booming 364-foot three-run blast in the 10th that he and everyone else inside Sutter Health Park knew was gone as soon as it left his bat to secure the A’s their first series win of 2026 with a 12-10 walk-off victory over the Astros. This series finale was far more dramatic than it probably needed to be, as the A’s carried a four-run lead into the eighth inning that was squandered by the bullpen and had to battle back. In the end, however, Rooker ensured the team a happy flight to New York, where six games against the Yankees and Mets await, starting Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. There also may not have been a hitter on this A’s squad that needed those two big swings more than Rooker, who entered Sunday batting .133 (4-for-30) with 14 strikeouts to begin the season. “It was good to finally do something to help us win or do something good in any fashion,” Rooker said. “I’m proud of our guys today as a whole. We saw some good arms and they put together good at-bats and made some unbelievable plays, yet we were able to battle through all that.”