After being shut out by Toronto on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rays hitters fared little better against Sean Manaea and the Oakland Athletics Monday. They managed just a single run as the Rays lost their fourth game in their last five, dropping the opener of their four-game series 2-1 Monday at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, as Randy Arozarena led off against Manaea with a base hit. Yandy Diaz’s ground ball off the Oakland starter allowed Arozarena to take second, and he stole third before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Austin Meadows.
Manaea would bear down, and would not allow another Tampa Bay run, getting help from his defense in the second from Stephen Piscotty and in the fourth from Tony Kemp.
Rays starter Rich Hill did not experience much trouble on the night, but Oakland made him pay for walking Matt Chapman with two out in the fourth, as Sean Murphy followed with a two-run homer that just got over the fence in left, turning a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 deficit.
Hill would get through six full innings, allowing just the two runs and striking out ten.
The Rays had golden opportunities late in the game against Oakland’s top relievers. They’d get runners to second and third with one out in the eighth against Jake Diekman on a single by Arozarena, a walk to Yandy Diaz and a wild pitch. But Austin Meadows popped up a fastball in the middle of the plate for the second out, and Jed Lowrie made a stop on a Manuel Margot grounder to end the threat. In the ninth against Lou Trivino, Yoshi Tsutsugo and Willy Adames reached on a two-out single and a walk, but Francisco Mejia grounded out to end the game with the tying run in scoring position.
Tampa Bay will look to even the series with a win Tuesday, as Michael Wacha (1-1, 4.35 ERA) takes on Frankie Montas. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
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.
