On Thursday afternoon, the Rays were looking to complete a series sweep against the A’s before going into a weekend series against the Red Sox. To get the job done, they had Drew Rasmussen on the mound, up against Jeffrey Springs for the A’s. Old friend alert!
The A’s went 1-2-3 in the top of the first, though they gave up an ABS challenge pretty early in the game when the final called strike of the inning was confirmed. The Rays also went 1-2-3 for the inning.
Zack Gelof singled to start the second,
but Donovan Walton grounded into a double play to eliminate the baserunner. Rasmussen got another ground ball out to end the inning. In the home half, Liam Hicks got a leadoff single, but three outs followed to end the inning.
In the third, Denzel Clarke got a two-out single, then successfully stole second. Henry Bolte walked. We got a good old-fashioned double steal as Clarke and Bolte both stole a base, but despite both getting into scoring position, the A’s weren’t able to capitalize on the baserunners. The Rays went three-up, three-down in the home half.
Lawrence Butler singled to start the fourth, but three outs followed to leave him stranded. In the home half, things opened up for the Rays in a big way. Jonathan Aranda got things started with a leadoff double. Junior Caminero walked. Liam Hicks then walked. Jonny DeLuca grounded into a force out that ended with Aranda out at home, but the bases safely loaded. Chandler Simpson singled, driving in two runs.
Ryan Vilade was hit by a pitch. Richie Palacios then doubled, but thanks to a fielding error by Heim, three runs scored and Palacios ended up on third.
Taylor Walls then singled, bringing in another run. That was all she wrote for Springs, sorry old friend, but not sorry. He was replaced by Geoff Hartlieb who got the next two outs in a row, but the Rays were suddenly up 6-0.
Ras had to be breathing a little easier going into the fifth inning. Clarke managed a two-out walk, then Bolte singled, but the A’s couldn’t manage to bring either of them home. The Rays went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Rasmussen was done after five innings with a final line of 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K on 76 pitches. Personally, I probably would have let him go another inning, but perhaps Cash has insights we don’t. Casey Legumina replaced him and immediately gave up a solo home run to Butler. Three outs followed, but the A’s had made their way onto the scoreboard. Joe Rock came out of the A’s pen in the home half and gave up a leadoff single to Simpson. Simpson stole second, and Vilade walked. Cedric Mullins replaced Vilade as a pinch-runner, then both Simpson and Mullins stole a base to put two runners in scoring position. Palacios walked to load the bases. Between a Rock and a hard place, the A’s went back to their bullpen for Chris Roycroft. Walls was walked, bringing in a run. With one out, Aranda walked to bring in another run. Two outs followed as the A’s finally got themselves out of their mess, but the Rays were now up 8-1.
Brody Hopkins was the new Rays’ pitcher for the seventh. Alika Williams got a leadoff walk. A wild pitch allowed Williams to advance to second. Hopkins got things back under control, though, and got the next three outs in order. Yunior Tur came in for the home half and got the Rays out in order.
Steven Matz came on for the eighth. With two outs, Gelof reached on a fielding error from Caminero, but it didn’t end up hurting the Rays as they got the final out in the next at-bat. In the bottom of the inning Palacios got a leadoff walk. Walls grounded into a force out to eliminate Palacios but keep a runner on. Aranda then reached on a fielding error to load the bases. Hicks then singled to score two more runs. Jake Fraley then walked. Drew Rom came in from the A’s bullpen to get the final out of the inning. The Rays now led 10-1.
Alex Cook took over for the Rays in the ninth and got the final three outs of the game to wrap up the Rays’ win and the series sweep.
Final: Rays 10, A’s 1
