By Emily Ohman

OAKLAND – JJ Bleday hit a two-run home run, Joe Boyle pitched six effective innings and the Oakland A's beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 on Monday night.

Bleday hit his sixteenth home run in the primary inning and Lawrence Butler added a sacrifice fly within the fifth inning, accounting for all the offense.

Boyle (3-5) limited the Rays to only two hits and three walks while recording six strikeouts. Grant Holman, Tyler Ferguson and Mason Miller each followed with hitless innings and combined for five more strikeouts, with Miller earning his nineteenth save.

With the win, Oakland evened its home record for the season at 31-31. The A's moved to a 26-55 record in Oakland after ending last yr at 50-112.

The A's took a lead in the primary inning and never gave it up. Butler opened the inning with a single and after Brent Rooker retired, Bleday hit a fastball into the stands in right field.

Zack Gelof had two of Oakland's six hits, with a single within the second and a double within the fifth. He scored on Butler's sacrifice fly within the fifth.

Tampa Bay had runners on the sphere in all but three innings but did not rating. The Rays were hitless until the fifth inning, when Yandy Diaz hit a single with two outs but was helpless. Diaz has reached base in 31 consecutive road games.

Boyle threw 104 pitches and set a profession high with six strikeouts.

Rays starter Taj Bradley (6-8) allowed three runs and five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in six innings.

TRAINING ROOM

As: RHP Austin Adams was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday with right forearm tendinitis, but his return is predicted within the near future. … INF Tyler Soderstrom continues to make progress after sitting out July with a left wrist injury, but there isn’t a timetable yet for his return.

Rays: RHP Pete Fairbanks was placed on the 15-day injured list and will probably be out for 2 to 4 weeks after an MRI revealed a strained right latissimus dorsi, the identical sort of injury he suffered in 2022 that benched the closer for nearly half the season. Fairbanks pitched 44 strikeouts in only over 45 innings and posted a 3.57 ERA while earning 23 saves this season.

Next

A's RHP Joey Estes (5-5, 4.72) starts against Rays RHP Shane Baz (0-2, 4.21 ERA).

Originally published: August 19, 2024 at 21:56

CLEVELAND – The Oakland A's did not decelerate the Cleveland Guardians' offense late last month when the 2 teams met for a season-opening four-game series on the Coliseum.

That proved to be the case again on Friday, because the A's allowed five runs in the underside of the fifth inning and never recovered in a 10-2 loss to the Guardians, opening a 10-game road trip.

Starter Joe Boyle allowed a two-run home run to Tyler Freeman within the second inning and Steven Kwan and Andrés Giménez each scored two runs within the fifth inning, helping the A's fall to 1-4 in games against the Guardians this season. In those games, Oakland was outscored 39-13.

Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie (2-2) slowed the A's by allowing one run in five innings and striking out a season-high six. The right-hander had just five strikeouts in his first three starts after missing much of last season with an elbow injury.

Josh Naylor added a solo home run and Estevan Florial had a career-best three hits for the Guardians, who’ve won five of their last six and have the perfect record within the AL Central at 14-6. It's Cleveland's best start since 1999.

A's third baseman Abraham Toro hit his first profession leadoff home run and Brent Rooker added a house run off Scott Barlow within the ninth. Oakland is 7-5 after starting the 12 months with seven losses in eight games.

Boyle (1-3) made his fourth start and allowed seven runs in six innings. The Cleveland resident walked 4 hits and conceded five hits.

In the fifth, Boyle issued two walks because the Guardians loaded the bases. Kwan doubled and scored twice before Giménez scored two more together with his single.

“Other than the fifth, I thought I was pretty solid and efficient,” Boyle said. “Without these walks in the fifth part it would be a completely different trip.”

Freeman's wind-assisted home run hit the foul pole in right and scored Will Brennan, giving Cleveland a 2-1 lead within the second. Josh Naylor blocked a solo shot from Kyle Muller within the eighth.

The Guardians opened the sport with five runs within the fifth, highlighted by Kwan's two-run double. Giménez followed with a two-run single and got here home on successful by José Ramírez.

“There was some weak contact, but again, it's the walks and the free bases that really killed Joe tonight and caused us to fall behind in the fifth inning,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “I sent him out again for the sixth time. It's a part of that development that I still wish to get him back on the market and see how he recovers from that tough innings.

“He recovered in the sixth game but that’s part of that maturation process. When you get a few guys on base, you just try to slow the game down and he’s still growing.”

Oakland began a 10-game trip that included series with the Yankees and Orioles. The A's have one other stretch of 10 straight road games from May 10-19.

TRAINING ROOM

Athletics: OF Brent Rooker (thoracic cartilage) got here off the injured list after missing nine games and appeared as a pinch-hitter within the sixth. Manager Mark Kotsay said he would start on Saturday.

Guardian: RHP Gavin Williams (right elbow inflammation), who has been on the IL since March 25, is scheduled to throw three innings in a simulated game Saturday in Goodyear, Arizona.

NEXT

A's LHP Alex Wood (0-1, 8.10 ERA) has the third-highest ERA within the majors amongst pitchers with not less than 15 innings pitched. He also allows the third-highest OPS at 1.042. He faces Guardians LHP Logan Allen (2-0, 5.06 ERA), who beat Oakland and Seattle in his first two starts but gave up nine runs over 9 2/3 innings in his last two games.