The Rays finished off a clean sweep in Oakland on Sunday, beating the A’s 8-4 and closing out the road trip at 9-0.
Drew Rasmussen gave Tampa Bay a solid five-inning start, and the offense did enough damage early and then again in the middle innings to put the game away. By the time the bullpen took over, the Rays had built enough cushion to absorb a late push from the A’s.
The scoring started in the second. Jonny DeLuca opened the inning with a double, Cedric Mullins followed with a single, and Richie Palacios brought DeLuca home with another single. Taylor Walls laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Yandy Diaz reached on a fielder’s choice that turned into more for Tampa Bay when pitcher Jack Perkins made a fielding error, allowing Mullins to score and pushing the Rays ahead 2-0.
Oakland chipped back in the bottom half of the second and then again in the third. Henry Bolte walked and stole second, and in the third the A’s got on the board after Donovan Walton was hit by a pitch, Zack Gelof singled, and Carlos Cortes doubled in two runs to trim the Rays’ lead to 3-2.
Tampa Bay answered in a big way in the fourth. Diaz singled, Aranda singled, and Junior Caminero drove in a run with another base hit. Then Liam Hicks changed the game with a three-run homer, blowing the lead open and putting the Rays firmly in control.
DeLuca kept creating traffic, doubling again in the fifth, but the Rays couldn’t cash him in that time. Oakland also had a chance in the inning, with Walton picking up another single, but the A’s left him stranded.
Rasmussen’s day ended after five innings, and his line was a steady one: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, on 84 pitches. Steven Matz followed him, then the Rays kept rotating arms as the bullpen handled the final four innings.
The Rays added another run in the eighth. Richie Palacios walked, Walls singled, and Diaz delivered again with a single that scored Palacios and moved Walls to third. That made it 8-2 and gave Tampa Bay a comfortable margin, even after the A’s got solo homers from Zack Gelof and Lawrence Butler in the bottom half of the inning.
DeLuca had one more hit in the seventh, and Victor Mesa Jr. drew a walk and stole second in the ninth, but the real finishing touch came from the Rays’ defense and Grove, who worked the final inning and got the side in order with help from the outfield.
When it was over, the Rays had not only completed the series sweep, they had finished the entire trip without a loss.
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