Oakland Athletics defeat Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 – MLB Update
The Oakland Athletics’ batters made a late retaliation to snatch the game away from the Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 to clinch the four-game series-opener at O.co Coliseum in Oakland on Monday, July 25.
The Athletics were trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning when David DeJesus added a single to reduce the lead to 5-3. He also singled to lead off three-run bottom of the seventh inning and to cut the margin to 5-4. First baseman Conor Jackson followed
David with his line drive double to deep-left centre to take his team into a 6-5 leading position.
"I think it's just apparent that everybody's not chasing like we have in the past," said Jackson. "We're working counts, we're taking our walks and we're swinging at pitches in the zone. When you do that, it makes it a little more fun."
After this run, the Rays went under extreme pressure and they could not generate even a single hit in the eighth inning. However, the A’s batting line-up has gained enough confidence, as their centre-fielder Coco Crisp, who was hitless in his first three
at-bats, entered the bottom of the eighth inning and touched a single to cement his club their 45th win of the season.
Before the sixth, the Rays were commanding with strong pitching and stormy hitting. Their starter Jeremy Hellickson was dominant, allowing only a two-run homer to Cliff Pennington over his five innings. He has given only four hits but he also allowed four
walks that kept the A’s hopes alive. He handed the ball to his reliever Brandon Gomes, who tossed six strikes of nine pitches to hold his second game.
However, as soon as the ball came into the hands of J.P. Howell the A’s confidence bounced back and they crushed him. Howell allowed three runs and Cesar Ramos yielded one run. Joel Peralta managed to escape the onslaught.
"The guys that struggled a little bit in the first half who have some track records are starting to swing the bat again," Oakland’s manager Bob Melvin said. "Just like it can be contagious when you're not swinging well, it can be contagious when you're swinging
well."
The Rays’ batting line-up was also on the height of their impetus, as Ben Zobrist and Kelly Shoppach both hammered home-runs while Desmond Jennings, Matt Joyce and B.J. Upton each scored an RBI single until the sixth inning.
The A’s starter Guillermo Moscoso tossed one of his worst games of the season, as he allowed five runs, eight hits and walked four batters over just five innings. He might have lost his game if his relievers had not restricted the opposition in the ending
half of the game. Wuertz tossed a scoreless 1.1 innings, Brian Fuentes threw 0.2 scoreless while Grant Balfour and Andrew Bailey each went for no-score innings.
Tags: