Oakland A’s handle Tampa Bay, Glasnow

by Gary Shelton on May 9, 2021

in general

Glasnow gave up two early homers./JEFFREY S. KING

Sunday, 4 a.m.

Yes, you can blame the pitching for this one. The A's jumped Rays' starter Tyler Glasnow early, then separated late, for a comfortable victory.

Yes, you can blame the hitting. The Rays struck out 13 times on Saturday and, for the third straight game, were dominated by the opposing starting pitcher. Tampa Bay loaded the bases with no one out in the ninth but were unable to score.

You can even blame the fielding. The Rays were within a run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Mike Brosseau's throwing error to pitching Ryan Thompson covering first base was wide, allowing the A's to triple their lead.

In other words, there were plenty of culprits in the Rays' 6-3 loss to Oakland Saturday, their second straight loss. The Rays are now only one game above .500.






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The Rays trailed by a run late, but allowed Oakland to extend the inning on a two-out error (they scored twice). The Rays then failed to score on a bases-loaded opportunity.

“It was frustrating," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "We worked really hard late in the game to kind of make a comeback and kept tacking on.. They got one across and we’ get one back. You just have to be really clean in those innings and we weren’t. The hitting is going to come around. It’s just been kind of quiet here lately.

For ace Tyler Glasnow, it was another outing where he wasn't sharp early. Against the A's, he gave up just two hits in 5 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts, but both hits he gave up were home runs.

Glasnow has allowed seven runs in the first inning this season, yielding a .290 opponent's average (nine -for-31) with three doubles, two homer and four walks.

"It’s been a theme in some of my bad starts," Glasnow said.
The first inning or so have not been so good, so it’s definitely something I need to figure out. It’s a little annoying when you do give up those runs in the beginning. Its a matter of staying locked in. It's something O have to go in and address."

Rays manager Kevin Cash didn't seem to agree.

“I thought Glas was really good," he said. "They just got him. (Seth) Brown (who was two for four with a homer and a run-scoring single) is swinging a hot bat. It carried over from last night. He anticipated a heater was coming and didn’t miss it. It was encouraging with the way he threw the ball."

The Rays lost Kevin Kiermaier to injury. He jammed his left wrist sliding into second base. X-rays were negative, but he could miss some time.

The Rays had pitched to a 2.86 ERA (125.2-IP, 40-ER) in their last 14 games, allowing 3 runs (or fewer) 12 times over that stretch.

The Rays had 10 hits, but they were two-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Brandon Lowe hit his sixth home run of the season.

The Rays close out their series against the A's today at 4:10 p.m. at Oakland Coliseum. Shane McClanahan will start for the Rays against Cole Irvin of the A's.


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