The Oakland Athletics took their second straight game from the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night, defeating the visiting AL East squad 6-1. Brandon McCarthy put together eight strong innings of work, giving up one run on six hits and two walks. He was supported by a robust offensive effort up and down the lineup.
The A’s offense has been much maligned here, but they scratched and clawed for runs against a normally tough David Price. Jemile Weeks and David DeJesus each sacrificed in runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively. Hideki Matsui and Cliff Pennington each drove in a run with doubles in the fifth and sixth innings. The A’s wrapped up their scoring with a two-run double by Kurt Suzuki in the eighth inning.
Although Ben Zobrist managed a solo home run in the eighth inning, the Rays were otherwise shut down by McCarthy and then Grant Balfour in the ninth. Aside from Zobrist’s home run, the Rays got to second base three times but otherwise never advanced to third against the A’s two pitchers.
The A’s and Rays meet for the third game of a four-game set at 7:05pm Wednesday night. Trevor Cahill and James Shields will meet with the A’s looking to continue this strong run.