Sean Murphy’s third inning three-run homer off Shane McClanahan would prve to be enough for the Oakland Athletics to earn a second win in this four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, taking a 4-2 decision Wednesday at Topricana Field.
Murphy only got the opportunity to hit in the third against McClanahan because the left-hander walked both Jed Lowrie and Stephen Piscotty with two outs in the inning. McClanahan left a curveball up in the strike zone, and Murphy didn’t miss it.
Tampa Bay got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, when Ji-Man Choi connected off Frankie Montas for his second home run of the year.
McClanahan would exit two outs into the fifth, with Matt Wisler finishing out the frame and Andrew Kittredge working a scoreless sixth.
Dusten Knight, called up on Wednesday, allowed Oakland to regain a three-run lead as Elvis Andrus, who doubled to start the seventh, scored on a base hit by Cristian Pache.
The Rays clawed back to within two runs again in the bottom of the seventh, as Francisco Mejia’s RBI single scored Yandy Diaz, who led off the inning with a base hit and moved into scoring position on a Sheldon Neuse error.
Tampa Bay would bring the go-ahead run to the plate in both the eighth and ninth innings, but could not get any closer to the Athletics in the game.
The Rays will look to salvage a split of the series Thursday afternoon, with left-hander Josh Fleming (1-0, 0.00 ERA) getting the start against Cole Irvin (0-1, 6.75 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
