Photo courtesy of Oakland Athletics. The A’s celebrate a victory over the Rays on 7/13/23.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme) 

OAKLAND- A’s fans came out in full swing for a reverse boycott and got to see an Athletics win over the Rays by a final of 2-1 bringing their winning streak up to seven games.

On the mound to start for the A’s was Shintaro Fujinami while for the Rays Jalen Beeks got the start. 

Fujinami only pitched the first inning as he was replaced by Hogan Harris to start the second. Fujinami escaped the first inning only giving up one hit but no runs. 

Breeks also only lasted a little bit longer as he was relieved in the second inning after facing one batter. Into the game came Yonny Chirinos who was sporting a 2.57 era before the contest. 

Early on in the game hits were hard to come by as Chirinos and Harris took care of most of the hitters they faced. 

In the fifth inning the Rays were able to get some offense going as Jose Siri lead off the inning with a double. After Taylor Walls flew out Manuel Margot got a base hit sending home Siri which made it 1-0 Rays. 

With Robert Stephenson on the mound Oakland was able to get something going as Jace Peterson was walked in the top of the seventh inning. Then with the packed crowd on their feet Brent Rooker was able to send him home with a double. The crowd which had already been loud all night with “sell the team” chants had now erupted in celebration. 

At this point in the game Harris was still in and was able to get out of a tough jam in the top of the eight.

In the bottom of the eight Laureano got the A’s going with a single to center field. Jonah Bride then helped advance him to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Laureano then attempted to steal third and was called safe but the Rays decided to challenge. That challenge ended up being unsuccessful and the next batter Carlos Perez was able to get him home on a ground out bringing the score to 2-1.

Then it all came down to the top of ninth which would be Trevor May’s inning to finish the game. May’s entrance into the game got off to a rocky start after getting one out as he walked Randy Arozarena. Arozarena then tried to steal second but was caught and tagged out despite the play being reviewed by the umpires. With two outs May walked Paredes but was able to strikeout Siri getting the A’s their seventh win in a row.

Not to be overlooked was Harris’s performance in tonights game as he pitched seven innings only giving up one hit, one earned run and striking out two batters.

Also the attendance for tonights game was 27,759 showing that the reverse boycott was quite the success.

The A’s will look to bring their winning streak up to eight games as they play the Ray’s tomorrow at home at 6:40 p.m.