Jacob Lopez #57 of the Sacramento Athletics pitches during the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Monday, August 10, 2026 in West Sacramento, California. (Mandatory photo credit: Jacob Soriano/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Fresh off their first series win since June, as they beat the Boston Red Sox in two out of three games this past weekend in Boston, the Sacramento A’s welcomed the Tampa Bay Rays to Sacramento for a three-game series beginning on Monday night. The Rays have been having a great season so far (71-46 entering Monday’s game) compared to the A’s (47-71 entering Monday’s game).

The A’s were able to flip the script early as they jumped out to the early lead, but as the late innings approached, the bullpen gave away yet another winnable game for the A’s as they fell to the Rays 10-6.

Jacob Lopez started the ballgame for the A’s as he was making his 19th appearance and 16th start for them. Lopez, with the exception of a home run in the first inning and some bad luck in the seventh inning, pitched exceptionally well for Mark Kotsay and the A’s. Lopez was sharp, allowing just one walk in his outing and striking out five. All in, Lopez went seven innings of two-run, five-hit baseball while needing 93 pitches to get through his outing.

“I think Jacob was excellent tonight,” Kotsay said after the game. “This is an outing where we talk about Jacob taking the next step since he’s been back. He’s been really effective, really good. Tonight was probably the best.”

A much more mature Jacob Lopez from last season echoed those thoughts after the game.

“Overall, being able to get past six innings finally and give the team a good chance to win a ballgame felt good,” Lopez said. “…the ending was kind of tough, but I think it was a good game overall.”

The A’s bullpen immediately imploded when it came in to relieve starter Jacob Lopez.

Seth Johnson, who Mark Kotsay turned to in the eighth inning, couldn’t record an out as he faced four batters who all reached base. Johnson gave up three hits and four runs while walking one during his four-batter appearance.

Mark Kotsay elected to go with Jose Suarez to try to stop the bleeding, but Suarez wasn’t much better. Suarez was only able to get one out while giving up a near-identical line to Johnson. Suarez gave up four runs on three hits while striking out one and walking one during his stint in the game during the eighth-inning meltdown.

Last out of the bullpen for the A’s was Scott Blewett, who the A’s turned to for the final two outs in the eighth and the ninth inning. Blewett allowed one single in the eighth, but that was his only blemish in his outing as he tossed a scoreless ninth inning. Overall, Blewett allowed one hit and no runs across his inning and two-thirds of relief for the A’s.

However, even with Blewett’s solid outing, the damage was already done as the A’s bullpen gave up two walks, six hits and eight runs, all in the eighth inning.

On the offensive side of the ball, the A’s totaled six runs on 10 hits while collecting two walks.

The A’s scored two runs in the first inning to get right back at the Rays, who homered in the first inning.

Tyler Soderstrom got the A’s on the board with their first run of the game as he drilled an RBI double to center field to score Jeff McNeil, who was on first base. It was Soderstrom’s 56th RBI of the season.

The A’s second run of the inning came courtesy of a steal of home by Tyler Soderstrom. The A’s put the runner in motion from first base, and that led Soderstrom to break for the plate from third. Soderstrom slid into home safely as the Rays threw down to second base. It was Soderstrom’s second stolen base of the season.

In the fifth inning, the A’s scored their third run of the game as Zack Gelof sent a booming home run over the left-center-field wall to give the A’s a 3-1 lead at the time. The home run left the bat of Gelof at a scorching 109 mph and traveled 456 feet. It was Gelof’s 12th home run of the season and his 30th RBI.

The A’s added on again in the seventh inning when they scored three runs.

Zack Gelof led the attack in the seventh as he knocked an RBI double into center field to extend the lead for the A’s at the time. It was Gelof’s 12th double of the season and 31st RBI.

Jeff McNeil followed shortly after with his 36th RBI of the season on an RBI sacrifice fly for the A’s that gave them a 5-2 lead at the time.

The final run the A’s would score came on a Jacob Wilson RBI double in the seventh in what was his 16th double and 37th RBI of the season.

With the loss, the Rays improved to 72-46 as the A’s fell to 47-72.

The A’s will take on the Rays in game two of their three-game series at Sutter Health Park on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. PDT. The A’s have not announced their starter for Tuesday, but the Rays will send Nick Martinez (11-3, 2.65 ERA) to the hill.