PHILADELPHIA—Lawrence Butler hit three home runs, Brent Rooker and Seth Brown each had two homers, and the Oakland Athletics routed the first-placed Philadelphia Phillies 18–3 on Sunday.
Butler had six RBIs and Rooker tied his career high with five RBIs for Oakland, which entered with the fourth-fewest wins in baseball and trailing first-place Seattle by 16 games in the American League West. The Athletics’ eight home runs were estimated at a combined 3,340 feet.
