Tampa Bay Rays’ Randy Arozarena slides home to score against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 4, 2022 (AP News photo)

BY Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Tampa Bay Rays (15-10) beat the Oakland A’s (10-15) 3-0 to sweep the three-game series. The A’s suffered their sixth loss in a row and have lost nine of their last eleven games. The team continues not to hit well.

The A’s had four hits on Wednesday afternoon. Seth Brown had the hardest-hit ball when he tripled in the bottom of the second. 

The game was scoreless for seven innings. The A’s ace, Frankie Montas, was dominant. He went seven innings and allowed four hits and no runs. His opponent, former two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber pitched a masterful six innings.

Kluber looked like the dominant pitcher he was when he pitched in Cleveland. Kluber’s line was six innings, three hits, and no runs. He threw just 64 pitches.

One of the adages in baseball is that good teams find a way to win. Bad teams find a way to lose. The A’s found a way to lose Wednesday afternoon. The Rays put three runs on the board as the A’s reliever Zach Jackson walked two, hit a batter, and gave up a single.

The Rays’ third run scored on a balk. The results are bad when teams have trouble scoring runs and the relievers aren’t performing well. The game summary follows below.

The Rays put three runs on the board in the top of the eighth with just one hit. In relief of Frenkie Montas, Zach Jackson walked Brett Phillips to start the frame. Phillips went to second on a wild pitch. Jackson retired Yandy Diaz for the first out.

Phillips went to third on the play. The next hitter Wander Franco struck out. Jackson walked Randy Arozarena and hit Brandon Lowe with a pitch to load the bases with two out. The Rays’ Manuel Margot singled to right-field to drive in Phillips and Arozarena.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in Domingo Acevedo to pitch with men on at first and third. The Rays plated the third run when a balk was called on Acevedo. The Rays lead 3-0 midway through the eighth inning. The Rays’ bullpen shut the A’s down in the eighth and ninth innings to win the game 3-0.

Game Notes: The A’s ended the six-game homestand 0-6. The A’s are 10-15 for the year with the loss. The Rays are 15-10. The winning pitcher for Tampa was J.P.Feyereisen. Zach Jackson was the losing pitcher. 

The A’s are off on Thursday as they are traveling to Minneapolis to face the Twins for three games starting Friday night. Left Cole Irvin will itch for Oakland. Irvin is 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA. The Twins have not announced their starting pitcher. 

The time of the game was two hours and thirty-nine minutes, and there were 4838 people present to watch the A’s lose.