Brandon McCarthy shines as Oakland Athletics defeat Tampa Bay Rays 8-0 – MLB Update
Brandon McCarthy pitched into the eighth inning on Saturday, August 6 to help the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-0 at Tropicana Field.
Having lost the first game, the Athletics bounced back with strong offence to rout the Tampa Bay Rays.
It was McCarthy who did not allow any run in the five hits that he gave up, also assisted by DeJesus who had a couple of homers to pile up enough runs to overpower the Rays.
For McCarthy, it heralded good news. "It's good for all of us," McCarthy said. "We came out and played a very complete game. We needed to come out and have something where the whole team can come in and be happy with what we did tonight."
The team manager also acknowledged and appreciated the extraordinarily good performance put by the Athletics starter. "He was terrific," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "He's been as consistent a guy as we've had."
David DeJesus homered in the second inning against the Rays’ starter Alex Cobb, giving the team its early lead followed by a single that Adam Rosales snapped in for the Athletics, doubling the lead by the end of the inning.
McCarthy, from the start of the game remained unplayable for the Rays’ hitters. With 2-0 lead, he solidified the Athletics’ defence, barely allowing the Rays to make use of any opportunity.
Josh Willingham got a single in the third to triple the lead in the face of Alex Cobb’s inability to contain the Athletics’ offence. Jemile Weeks went for a single to right in the fourth inning to pile up the lead to 4-0 while McCarthy kept tossing unhittable
pitches.
As the game progressed, Oakland’s hitters would try to score a run every inning, while McCarthy would play his role as the well-established defence. Cliff Pennington drove in the fifth run for the team in the fifth inning against Cobb.
Adam Rosales and Weeks scored individual singles in the eighth against Juan Cruz to make it 7-0 by the end of eighth while McCarthy threw another shut-out inning to keep the lead intact. DeJesus homered in the ninth to take the lead to 8-0.
Fautino De Los Santos pitched an effective ninth as a closer to wrap up the game in favour of the Oakland Athletics with a decent 8-0 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Athletics put in a brilliant performance as they managed to restrict the Rays’ offence. Tampa Bay will be looking to improve their effort in their next match-up.
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