Oakland A’s Cristian Pache hustles around third as he’s waved in by third base coach Darren Bush in the top of the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Thu Apr 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (4-3) downed the Tampa Bay Rays (4-3) 6-3 Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field. The A’s starter, Cole Irvin, gave the A’s six and one-third innings and held the potent Rays’ lineup in check. The A’s won the series three games to one.

Winning three out of four from Tampa is no easy task. The Rays are loaded with terrific young players like Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena, Ji-Man Choi, Brandon Lowe, Brett Phillips, and Kevin Kiermaier.

They are a tough bunch to hold in check. Yet, the A’s pitchers did well as they are now 4-3 for the year. This weekend, the A’s are winging their way to Toronto to face another formidable lineup.

For the fourth game in a row, the A’s jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. In the first three games, A’s hitters slugged a three-run dinger. They used a different formula to put the three runs on the board on Thursday.

A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus continued his hot start with a single to left. Kevin Smith followed with a single, his first hit of the year. Rays’ starter, Josh Fleming, retired Austin Allen for the second out. A’s centerfielder, Cristian Pache, singled to left-center. Rays’ left fielder, Randy Arozarena, attempted to cut the ball off from going into the gap in left-centerfield.

As he was sliding, the ball kicked off his foot and was to the wall. Kevin Kiermaier chased the ball down. He had trouble getting a good grip on the ball, which allowed the speedy Pache to score. The A’s led 3-0 midway through the second inning.

The Rays got one back in the half of the second. Randy Arozarena, trying to atone for his miscue, doubled leading off the frame. Brandon Lowe singled, sending Arozarena to third with no out. Manuel Margot singled to drive in Arozarena with the Rays’ first run. Cole Irvin retired Mike Zunino on a flyball to rightfield.

The Rays’ runners tagged and attempted to advance a base. Lowe made it safely to third. Billy McKinney’s strong throw to Elvis Andrus nailed Margot at second base. Umpire Jerry Lane was knocked to the ground as he watched the play to make the call. Lane got up and signaled that Margot was out. Cole retired Kiermaier for the third out. The A’s led 3-1 after two complete.

In the third, fourth, and fifth innings, the A’s added a run to take a 6-1 advantage. In the third, a single by Chad Pinder and a booming double by Sean Murphy produced the A’s fourth run.

In the fourth, the A’s loaded the bases with a walk to Smith, Pache’s infield single, and a walk to Tony Kemp. Pinder grounded out. Smith scored on the play. The A’s loaded the bases in the fifth. The run scored when Kevin Smith hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

In the meantime, Cole Irvin found his groove. The. Lefty mowed down 14 Rays’ hitters in a row. The streak ended when Rays’ DH Harold Ramirez doubled to lead off the seventh. Cole retired Randy Arozarena for the first out.

Brandon Lowe showed the A’s why he is one of the better hitters in the Rays’ lineup. The second baseman sent one of Irvin’s offerings into the seats in right field to close the gap to 6-3. A’s manager Mark Kotsay saw enough. He brought in Domingo Acevedo to pitch. Acevedo did his job as he struck out Mike Zunino and Kevin Kiermaier to end the seventh.

A.J. Puk held the Rays scoreless in the eighth, and Dany Jimenez earned his first-career save to preserve the win for Oakland.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s are 4-3. The Rays’ record dropped to 4-3.
Irvin was the winning pitcher. His record is now 1-1. He went six and one-third innings, allowing five hits and three runs. He struck out two and did not walk a batter. The Rays’ Josh Fleming took the loss. He is now 1-1. Fleming went three and one-third innings and allowed seven hits and five runs. Only three of the runs were earned.

A’s catcher Sean Murphy had two doubles in the game. The line for Oakland was six runs, nine hits, and one error. The line for Tampa was three runs, six hits, and one very costly error.

The A’s start a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays starting Friday night in Toronto. The A’s will send Daulton Jeffries to the hill to face a formidable Toronto offense. The Blue Jays will feature Vladimir Guerrero, Jr, Bo Bichitte, and George Springer. It will not be easy. The Blue Jays’ starter will be Ross Stripling. The game will start at 4:07 pm.

The time of the game was 2:33 minutes. 6,287 fans watched the Rays lose for the third time in the four-game series. The total number of people that watched the four-game series was about 35,000. Despite their success on the field, the Rays continue to draw poorly. They, as well as the A’s, need a new ballpark. Hopefully, both teams will get a new stadium, The sooner, the better.