The Rays turned Thursday afternoon into a rout, rolling past the A’s 10-1 to finish off a series sweep before heading into a weekend set against the Red Sox.
Drew Rasmussen got the ball for Tampa Bay, with Jeffrey Springs on the mound for the A’s in a matchup that carried a little extra familiarity. The first few innings stayed quiet, though not without a few moments.
The A’s opened the game with a 1-2-3 first and even survived an ABS challenge when the final called strike of the inning was confirmed. Tampa Bay matched that with a clean first of its own.
Oakland’s best early chance came in the second, when Zack Gelof singled to open the inning, only for Donovan Walton to hit into a double play. Rasmussen finished it off with another ground ball. Liam Hicks answered with a leadoff single in the bottom half, but the Rays also went quietly after that.
The A’s created a little pressure in the third. Denzel Clarke singled with two outs, then stole second.
Henry Bolte walked, and the pair pulled off a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. Still, the inning ended with nothing to show for it.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, was still waiting to break through.
That changed in a hurry in the fourth.
Jonathan Aranda started the rally with a leadoff double. Junior Caminero walked, Hicks walked, and after Jonny DeLuca grounded into a force out that erased Aranda at home, Chandler Simpson came through with a single that drove in two runs.
Ryan Vilade was hit by a pitch, Richie Palacios doubled, and a fielding error by Heim let three runs score while Palacios moved to third. Taylor Walls followed with an RBI single, and Springs’ day was over.
Geoff Hartlieb came in and got the next two outs, but the Rays had already stacked up a 6-0 lead.
Rasmussen kept the A’s from answering, even as Clarke walked and Bolte singled in the fifth. Tampa Bay went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, but Rasmussen was done after five scoreless frames, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 on 76 pitches.
Casey Legumina took over and immediately surrendered a solo homer to Lawrence Butler, getting Oakland on the board. That was as close as the A’s got.
The Rays pushed right back in the bottom half. Simpson singled to open the inning, stole second, and Vilade walked before Cedric Mullins came on as a pinch-runner.
Simpson and Mullins both swiped a base to set up runners in scoring position, Palacios walked to load the bases, and Walls drew another walk to force in a run. Aranda then walked to bring home one more.
By the time the inning ended, Tampa Bay was up 8-1.
Brody Hopkins handled the seventh for the Rays, working around a leadoff walk by Alika Williams and a wild pitch that moved him to second. Yunior Tur answered with a clean inning in the home half.
The Rays kept adding on in the eighth. Steven Matz entered for the A’s, and with two outs Gelof reached on a fielding error by Caminero, though it didn’t lead to anything bigger.
Tampa Bay then loaded the bases on a Palacios walk, a force out by Walls, and another fielding error, this one on Aranda. Hicks cashed it in with a two-run single, and Jake Fraley walked before Drew Rom finally ended the inning.
That left the Rays with a 10-1 cushion, and the game never came close again.
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For the Rays, the frustrating part was how many openings they created without cashing in. They went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position, the sort of inefficiency that can make a close game feel farther away than the final score suggests, even with the home crowd still waiting for a breakthrough that never came. [Read more 🡒]