Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero celebrates after the Rays defeated the Sacramento A’s at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg on Thu Sep 17, 2026 (AP News photo)

Six-Run Fourth Buries A’s 10-1 in Tampa Bay

By Mauricio Segura

The Tampa Bay Rays turned the fourth inning into a runaway train and finished off a 10-1 win. The loss completed a three-game sweep and dropped the Sacramento A’s to 61-92, while Tampa Bay took all six meetings in the season series. The A’s had been 0-5 against the Rays with one game remaining before the finale.

For three innings, Jeffrey Springs matched Drew Rasmussen zero for zero. Sacramento even put pressure on the Rays in the third when Denzel Clarke singled with two outs, stole second, and then took third as Henry Bolte stole second behind him. Jeff McNeil grounded out to end the threat, leaving two runners in scoring position. Bolte had been tied for the Major League lead in September stolen bases before the game, and the A’s showed early that their speed could create trouble.

The game broke apart in the fourth. Jonathan Aranda opened the inning with a double, Junior Caminero drew a walk, and Liam Hicks followed with another. Springs got Jonny DeLuca on a force play at the plate, but Chandler Simpson lined a two-run single to center for a 2-0 lead. Ryan Vilade was then hit by a pitch, loading the bases again.

Richie Palacios followed with the swing that turned the inning from damage into disaster. His double to right brought home DeLuca and Simpson, and Vilade also scored after the throw got away from catcher Jonah Heim. Palacios advanced to third on the error and scored when Taylor Walls dropped a bunt single toward third. By the time Geoff Hartlieb replaced Springs, Tampa Bay had scored six times.

It was a rough ending for Springs in a familiar place. Before joining the Athletics, the left-hander pitched for Tampa Bay from 2021 through 2024, going 18-8 with a 2.63 ERA in 86 games, including 35 starts. He allowed six runs on five hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings, striking out four. Rasmussen went the other direction, holding the A’s scoreless over five innings while giving up four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Lawrence Butler finally gave the Green and Gold something to celebrate in the sixth. Casey Legumina replaced Rasmussen, and Butler greeted him with a solo homer to right, his 17th of the season. Butler also had a fourth-inning single, finishing with two of Sacramento’s five hits. The A’s began the day with a Major League-best 25 home runs in September, but Butler’s blast was all the power they could produce.

Tampa Bay answered before the A’s could build anything around Butler’s homer. Simpson singled, stole second, and then stole third as pinch-runner Cedric Mullins took second. Richie Palacios walked to load the bases, and Chris Roycroft issued bases-loaded walks to Walls and Aranda, pushing the score to 8-1.

The Rays added two more in the eighth after an error by Bolte helped extend the inning. With the bases loaded, Hicks hit a two-run infield single that scored Walls and Aranda. Drew Rom got the final out, but the damage had already pushed Tampa Bay into double digits.

Sacramento never found another answer. Alex Cook retired Tommy White, Alika Williams and Jonah Heim in order in the ninth, ending an afternoon in which the A’s managed five hits and left seven runners on base. The first two games of the series were decided by one run, but the finale offered no such suspense.

The road trip now shifts to Cleveland, where the A’s Mason Barnett (1-4, 7.08 ERA, 38 strikeouts) is set to face the Guardians Daniel Espino (0-0, 2.92 ERA, 21 strikeouts), with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. Pacific.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

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