Oakland Athletics’ Elvis Andrus (17) is congratulated by Tony Kemp (5) after belting a three home run in the second inning off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Mazza at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay on Mon Apr 11, 2022 (AP News photo)

A’s belt four homers pummel Rays in laugher 13-2

By Jerry Feitelberg

On Monday night, the Oakland A’s began a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg. The Rays opened the season with three straight wins over the Baltimore Orioles. The A’s went 1-2 against the Philadelphia Phillies to start the season.

The Rays won 100 games last year. Their manager, Kevin Cash, was the AL Manager of the Year for the last two seasons. Under a new manager Mark Kotsay, the A’s were hoping to get a win to start the series.

Well, fans, the A’s did just that. They had their hitting shoes on as they put four runs on the board in the first and second innings and coasted to an easy 13-2 win over the Rays. The A’s hit four home runs in the game.

They had two three-run dingers, a solo blast, and a grand slam. Shortstop Elvis Andrus had a single, double, and a three-run homer. Andrus needed a triple to complete the cycle. Right-fielder Seth Brown also hit a three-run blast.

His big fly came in the first inning. Brown has seven RBIs in the first four games. Third baseman Sheldon Neuse (pronounced Noisy) hit his first home run of the year in the ninth. It was his first career grand slam.

The A’s put four runs on the board in the first inning. With one out, Elvis Andrus doubled. Rays’ pitcher Luis Patino retired Billy McKinney for the first out. Unfortunately for Patino, he hurt his leg on the pitch and had to leave the game.

He was replaced by Chris Mazza, a young man from Walnut Creek. Mazza hit Sean Murphy with a pitch to put two men on with two out. Seth Brown homered into the right-field seats to make it 3-0. Chad Pinder then homered to make it 4-0.

Things continued to go south for Chris Mazza. Neuse got things going with a single to start the rally. Rookie centerfielder, Cristian Pache, singled to put two men on with no out. Second baseman Tony Kemp’s grounder to Rays’ second baseman Taylor Walls was misplayed. Neuse scored to put the A’s ahead 5-0. Elvis Andrus homered to give the A’s a commanding 8-0 lead midway through the second inning.

Oakland put another run on the board in the fourth. Pache reached on a fielding error by Rays’ shortstop Wander France. Singles by Tony Kemp and Elvis Andrus loaded the bases for Oakland. Pache scored on Sean Murphy’s fielder’s choice.

The A’s starter, Paul Blackburn, held the Rays scoreless in his five innings of work. He allowed three hits and no runs. Blackburn walked one a struck out a career-high seven batters. He threw 71 pitches.

The Rays scored a run in the sixth and a run in the eighth to make it 9-2. The Rays used outfielder Brett Phillips to pitch in the eighth and ninth innings of the game. In the ninth, Phillips walked Billy McKinney to start the frame. He retires the next two hitters.

Chad Pinder doubles, sending McKinney to third. Phillips walked Stephen Vogt to load the bases. Phillips pitches were clocked at 49 miles an hour. Sheldon Neuse met the challenge and took a 49-mile-per-hour pitch on a journey into the left-field seats. The A’s won the game 13-2.

Game Notes: Paul Blackburn was the winning pitcher. Luis Patino took the loss for the Rays. The A’s evened their record at 2-2. The Rays are 3-1 for the season.

Sean Murphy hit the first triple of his career when Kevin Kiermaier, a three-time Gold Glover, misplayed the ball.

The A’s used four pitchers. Blackburn went five, Zach Jackson pitched the sixth, A.J.Puk worked the seventh and eighth, and Jason Grimm pitched the ninth. The Rays used six pitchers.

Game two of the four-game series will start at 3:40 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday evening. The A’s will send rookie Adam Oller to the hill, and Ray’s rookie Tommy Romero will oppose him. It will be the first time in MLB history that two pitchers will be making their MLB debut in the same game.

The time of the game was three hours exactly. Nine thousand one hundred thirty-nine fans watched as the A’s pounded the Rays 13-2.