OAKLAND -- It had been nearly a month-and-a-half since A's slugger Khris Davis' last home run. June 18 to be exact -- 29 games ago against the lowly Baltimore Orioles -- marking the longest dinger drought of his career.
Davis put an end to that Tuesday night, rocketing a line-drive home run to left off Brewers reliever Freddy Peralta in the eighth inning of Oakland's 3-2 walk-off win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Davis briefly gave the A's a 2-1 lead before Eric Thames tied it with a solo homer in the top of the ninth inning.
Davis with the tiebreaker 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/DJ6m94Npgr— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) July 31, 2019
"I think it was a big load off everybody's back," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Davis' slump-busting home run Tuesday. "We've kind of been waiting for that, obviously. Some of his at-bats have been better. It looks like his swings have been healthy. It was just a matter of time before he hit one and obviously, it was in a big spot."
Davis finished the night 3-for-4 with his 17th home run and eighth double of the season. It was his first three-hit game in more than two months, but Davis said his prolonged slump didn't cause him to lose any confidence.
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"It didn't weigh on me at all," Davis said after the win. "I'm just here to try to win ballgames and that's what I focus on, not how quickly I hit home runs."
Still, Davis' teammates gave him a hero's welcome in the dugout following his big eighth-inning blast.
Only GIF you need to see tonight.#RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/Cra5ZAITMX— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) July 31, 2019
"It's huge," said Tuesday's starter Chris Bassitt, who tossed six shutout innings. "We're super excited for the guy because he's obviously had a stretch where he hasn't done normal Khris Davis stuff. But for how many times he's come to the yard and just constantly worked -- he hasn't given up one day -- so just seeing him do what he can do, hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak, where we kind of trade for Khris Davis without trading anybody away."
Matt Olson ensured Davis' home run didn't come in a losing effort. Olson hit the game-winning homer in the 10th inning, and he was happy to see his teammate start to get back on track.
"It's awesome," Olson said. "That's what KD does. He's one of the best power hitters in the game. Sometimes you've just got to feel it to get it rolling, and we definitely hope that's the case for KD."
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The win marked Oakland's second straight walk-off victory and their eighth of the season, which is tied for the most in the majors.
"I think we have confidence that we can come out and win those tight ballgames," Davis said. "You can't teach experience and the more experience we get with those, the more confidence we'll have."
