Thursday, 4 a.m.

Marco Polo had a good road trip. Dorothy had a good road trip. Lewis and Clark had a good road trip.

The Tampa Bay Rays had a great road trip.

For the first time, the Tampa Bay Rays have recorded a 9-0 road trip. They beat the Athletics again Wednesday, 8-4, for their third series sweep on the trip. They now have the best record in the major leagues.

In their series against the A's, the Rays scored 30 runs and had 38 hits.

It was their 13th sweep of the season, which leads the major leagues.

Newly acquired catcher Liam Hicks led the offense Wednesday, getting three hits including a three-run homer. Jonny Deluca also had three hits. Yandy Diaz, Junior Caminero and Cedric Mullins all had two hits.

Drew Rasmussen lasted only five innings, but he ran his record to 12-5. He gave up just four hits.

Ninth-inning homers by Zack Gelof and Lawrence Butler off of Michael Grove made the score closer.

The Rays are off today. Theyare home against the Orioles on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. The Rays have not announced a starter. Baltimore will start Kyle Bradish (7-11).

Wednesday, 4 a.m.

Don't look now, Junior, but Taylor Walls is gaining on you.

As of today, he's only 33 home runs behind.

Walls, the Rays' slick fielding (and weak hitting) shortstop, hit two home runs in Tuesday night's 12-4 victory over the Athletics. Walls, who hadn't homered in more than a year, hit oen from the left side of the plate in the fourth inning and one from the right in the sixth.

Caminero? Poor guy, he only had one homer, his 35th of the season.

In all, the Rays cranked six home runs: one by Yandy Diaz, one by Victor Mesa Jr. and one by Carson Williams as the Rays feasted on A's pitching. In all, the homers traveled 2,372 feet.

Tampa Bay has now won eight straight games on its road trip. In its two wins over the Athletics, the Rays have scored 22 runs and has had 21 hits.

Just as noteworthy as the home runs was pitcher Nick Martinez, who pitched the team's first complete game of the year to bring his record to 12-3. Martinez allowed just eight hits, three of them in the ninth.

It was the first complete game victory in Martinez' career.

The Rays' Chandler Simpson, Mesa Jr., Richie Palacios and Walls all had two hits.

The Rays and A's close out their series today at Sutter Health Park at 3:05 p.m. Drew Rasmussen (11-5) will start for the Rays against Jack Perkins (2-8).

Tuesday, 4 a.m.

For much of the night, they didn't pitch particularly well. Also, they didn't hit. Even their fielding was a little splotchy.

And then, just before they let a game slip away, the Rays turned into the best team in the American League again.

Trailing by four runs, the Rays exploded for eight runs on seven hits, two walks and two steals in the eighth inning Monday night, rallying to beat the Athletics 10-6 at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, Calif.

It was the Rays' biggest inning of the year. They sent 12 men to the plate.

It happened after the A's pulled starting pitcher Jacob Lopez from the game. Lopez had allowed just five hits over seven innings and seemed in control.

But the bullpen for the Athletics is the worst in majors, and once they were in the game, it was time for batting practice. Yandy Diaz singled. Jonathan Aranda singled. And Junior Caminero, quiet as of late, hit his 34th home run to bring the Rays within a run.

No one was through yet, however. Ryan Vilade walked. Jonny DeLuca singled. Nick Fortes walked. Chandler Simpson singled in the go-ahead run.

Taylor Walls singled in two runs. Diaz hit a sacrifice to center. Jonathan Aranda singled.

It was the seventh straight win for the Rays. They now lead the Yankees by six games and the Red Sox by eight.

Freddy Peralta was better in his second start for the Rays, but he wasn't sharp. He did get through six innings with only three runs.

The Rays ended up with 10 hits. Caminero had his 34th home run and Diaz had his 16th.

Diaz, a night after having four hits in Seattle, had three more against the A's. DeLuca had three hits, too. Aranda and Walls each had two.

The Rays and As play again tonight at 9:40 p.m. at Sutter Health Park. Nick Martinez (11-3) will start for the Rays against Mason Barnett (1-2).