Smyly worked out of a pair of jams early in the game and pumped his fist after striking out Billy Burns to end the fifth. Souza Jr. and the rest of the Rays offense can’t say the same.
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“Tonight was aggravating in general because nothing I was throwing was going where I wanted it to go”, said Bassitt, who struck out three and walked two. “That’s what you have to do to pitch at this level. The hits they did get were just homers”.
The right-hander gave up six runs and eight hits in 3 1-3 innings of last Sunday’s 18-2 loss at Baltimore to fall to 0-5 and raise his ERA to 6.89 ERA over his last seven overall starts – all Oakland defeats. It was an emotional moment for the Rays veteran pitcher who last won on August 27, 2014.
“That doesn’t enter your mind at all in a situation like that”, Venditte said. “I’m pretty happy about it, it’s going pretty good so far”. “He threw me two sliders right out of the shoot, three sliders I think”. For what it’s worth, Gray said he still “felt good” after the eighth. Boxberger, who blew a save Wednesday in a loss to Houston, gave up three hits and a run in the ninth inning. The play was generously scored as a hit after Cabrera’s throw sailed well high, and the Athletics made the Rays pay.
With a loaded rotation and a solid bullpen, if the Rays can figure out their hitting woes, a playoff berth may still be in their future.
The A’s also had problems offensively and wasted a strong outing by starter Chris Bassitt. Then Alex Colome tossed a flawless ninth in his second inning of work to finish the Rays’ 5-4 win.
“We got our share of hits, we couldn’t get a big one when we needed one”, Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “We always talk about that’s the way our club’s built”, said Rays manager Kevin Cash, whose team was 0-49 when trailing after eight innings coming into Saturday.
It has to be said: The Force was finally with them. “This was a tough one”. “Good for him and good for us he was able to calm it down and get through that”. “That’s just kind of the luck he’s having a little bit right now, nothing more than that”.
McGee was injured Tuesday night and an MRI on Thursday found a meniscus tear The Rayd placed him on the 15-day disabled list and recalled rookie left-hander Enny Romero from Triple-A Durham. 1B Ike Davis, who underwent surgery to fix a torn hip labrum on Friday, was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. INF Brett Lawrie returned to the lineup after missing two days with a strained lat….
Left fielder Coco Crisp lined a two-out single and went to second on shortstop on Marcus Semien’s single. In the third, John Jaso took Gray’s first pitch deep to bring in another run for Tampa.
Phegley wound up with his third three-RBI game of the season, his first since July 19 as the last-place A’s lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games.
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Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray (12-5) carries his AL-leading 2.04 ERA into Saturday’s evening start.
