By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Oakland A’s Yonder Alonso slides ahead of Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria’s tag in the sixth inning at Tropicana Field on Friday

One thing was missing from the Oakland Athletics makeshift lineup after falling victim to a three-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. With Danny Valencia, among others, out of the lineup the Green and Gold lacked a bopper at the heart of their order. With Valencia returning to action after missing two straight games, the A’s received a dose of much needed pop as they opened a weekend series with the Rays (15-18) in Tampa Bay.

Oakland rode a pair of homers from Valencia to best the Rays 6-3, snapping a 5 game losing streak. Khris Davis and Marcus Semien also homered for the A’s (15-21), while Rich Hill pitched 6 innings, striking out 7 Rays. Ryan Madson shut the door for his 9^th save of the year.

Davis was the first Athletic to exit the yard, taking eventual losing pitcher Jake Odorizzi (0-2, 3.83 ERA) deep on a full count offering with two runners on for his 8^th homer of the season. Like Davis, Valencia worked the count full, then lifted a ball to deep left field for a solo homer, his first dinger of the year, and a 4-0 lead before Hill could even take the mound.

The Steve’s, Pierce and De Souza, would each single in a run in the bottom half of the frame to cut Oakland’s lead in half, but it’d be the last bit of damage Tampa would do off Hill until Evan Longoria hit a 5^th inning RBI double. By then, the game was already locked up 5-3, with Semien hitting a solo shot in the top of the 4^th. Semien’s 9^th homer of the season is an A’s record out of the 9^th place in the batting order.

Hill (5-3, 2.68) only allowed one other hit besides the 3 run-scoring knocks over his 6 innings of work. His finesse attempt yielding 4 walks, but his 7 punchouts were enough to keep the Rays off the board. Fernando Rodriguez and Sean Doolittle picked up holds for their scoreless innings, bridging the gap to Madson.

Valencia hit his second round-tripper of the game in the top of the 6^th off reliever Dana Eveland, crushing a 0-1 pitch to right field. It’s the third baseman’s 1^st multi-homer game since September 18^th of last season.

Valencia will look to stay hot against rookie Matt Andriese Saturday. The Rays starter comes into his 2^nd start with a 1.29 ERA. Oakland counters with Kendall Graveman.