Oakland A’s starter Joe Boyle delivers against the Tampa Bay Rays in the top of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon Aug 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tampa Bay (62-62) 000 000 000 0 2 1

Athletics (54-70) 200 010 00x 3 6 1

Time: 2:22

Attendance: 3,938

Monday, August 19, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This comfortable August evening, the incipient I’m a Stranger Here Myself Athletics, fresh from splitting and coming within a hare’s breath of sweeping the Bay Bridge Series, opened a four game series Monday night against the team representing the region spanned by another Bay Bridge, the one that connects Tampa and St. Petersburg.

The resultant 3-0 Athletic triumph brought the team’s record to 54-71, playing well above .500 since July 1st, the fourth best in the majors since that date. The Rays fell to 62-62.The attendance was a little over 10% of Saturday evening’s afternoon crowd for the Giants game and less than 10% of the number of mourners at Sunday afternoon’s wake.

The unhoused occupants of the homeless encampment known as the Coliseum got six full and shut out innings out of southpaw Joy Boyle, who dispatched the 24 Rays he faced on two hits, a walk, and a wild pitch.

His brilliant performance earned him his third win against five losses while reducing his ERA to 6.21. Grant Holman and TJ McFarland, held the Rays off the board in the seventh and eighth frames, respectively. The former allowed a base on balls; each of them notched a strikeout. Mason Miller came through with his 19th save, allowing only a 3-2, two out walk to José Siri.

The A’s opened the scoring early and never looked back. Lawrence Butler drew a leadoff walk against Rays starter Taj Bradley, who did a pretty good job on the mound himself. Indeed, he followed Butler’s free pass by whiffing Brett Rooker.

JJ Bleday, however, had Bradley’s number. Bleday’s were 16 (his HR total for the season), 388 (the feet it travelled into the left field seats), 102.6 (the blast’s exit velocity), and 91.2 (the speed of Bradley’s 1-1 four seamer). The green and gold scored only once more, but with the pitching they got, even that was superfluous.

Zack Gelof defied The Curse of the Leadoff Double. Max Schuermann sacrificed him over to third, and Butler’s 362 foot sac fly to right brought him home for the final tally of the game.

Bradley was charged with the loss, which left him with a record of 6-8, 3.55. Like Boyle, Tampa Bay’s starter had toiled six frames before his exit. He gave up five hits, and the three runs scored against him were earned. He struck out three and walked two.

53 of his 89 deliveries counted as strikes. Richard Loveland allowed a single to Abraham Toro, struck out Gelof and Butler, and uncorked a wild pitch while shutting out the A’s in the seventh. Joel Kuhnel, recalled earlier in the day from the Durham Bulls, struck out a couple of Athletics in a perfect eighth.

The Athletics benefited from a replay review in the bottom of the fourth. Seth Brown originally was called safe at first on what would have been a 6-4-3 double play. Tampa Bay challenged the decision, which was overruled, and Brown was out on a 6-4-3 double play.

Another intimate gathering is expected Tuesday, evening at 6:40. Right handers Shane Baz (0-2, 4.21) of the Rays and Joey Estes (5-5, 4.72) for the As will entertain the guests.