Oakland Athletics at Tampa Bay Rays

· Major League Baseball

Oakland Athletics

23-33, 10-17 Away

Final
3 - 0

Tampa Bay Rays

26-29, 15-18 Home

Rookie Mitch Spence allows 1 hit, Miguel Andújar hits 3-run homer as Athletics beat Rays 3-0

Spence (4-2) had allowed just one base runner — a second-inning leadoff walk to Isaac Paredes — until José Caballero flared a single to center with one out in the sixth.

“I noticed that they had no hits, but I was trying not to think about it,” said Spence, who threw a career-high 98 pitches. “But the biggest thing like, when you know you’re kind of close to the end I just try and go out by out. These are last guys I got to get so I got to push a little extra.”

Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said his rookie “was great tonight.”

“Commanding the zone," Kotsay said, "being able to pitch to both sides, backdoor the cutter and the slider to the lefties really helped him tonight.”

T.J. McFarland, Michael Kelly and Mason Miller, who worked the ninth to get his 11th save in as many chances, completed a three-hitter.

Miller allowed a two-out single to Yandy Díaz and walked Brandon Lowe before striking out Paredes to end it.

Zack Littell (2-3) gave up three unearned runs, five hits and struck out nine over seven innings.

Oakland improved to 9-16 in May. Tampa Bay lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Spence was taken by Oakland in last December’s Rule 5 draft from the New York Yankees. It was Spence’s 14th appearance this season, with three coming as a starter.

Oakland took a 3-0 lead in the sixth when one-time Yankees' player Andújar went deep against Littell. It was Andújar's third game this season after being out following right knee surgery in March.

“Just a bad pitch,” Littell said. “Got away with a few throughout the game. By far, that was the worst.”

Andújar and Littell both spent part of the 2017 season with the Yankees' Double-A Trenton team.

Athletics first baseman J.D. Davis with hit on the hand by an 89 mph pitch from Littell in the seventh. He stayed in to run the bases but was taken out defensively in the bottom half of the inning. He also got stepped on his leg by Tampa Bay's Jonny DeLuca while taking a throw at first in the fifth.

Kotsay said Davis has a bruised hand and would undergo X-rays.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: RHP Ross Stripling (right elbow strain) has been shut down from throwing for seven to 10 days. … LHP Alex Wood (rotator cuff tendinitis) could resume playing catch this weekend. … INF Aledmys Diaz (strained right calf) was reinstated from the 60-day and INF Tyler Nevin was designated for assignment. Nevin is the son of former major leaguer Phil Nevin.

Rays: Opening-day starter Zach Eflin (lower back inflammation) will have a bullpen session Thursday. … OF Josh Lowe (right oblique strain) had a full pregame workout.

Oakland RHP Joey Estes (1-1, 7.47 ERA) and Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (3-2, 3.98 ERA) are Wednesday night’s starters.

How can I watch Oakland Athletics vs. Tampa Bay Rays?

TV Channel: Athletics at Rays 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Rays: 62.9%

Athletics: 37.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Paredes struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	B. Lowe walked, Díaz to second.
	9th Inning	Díaz singled to center.
	9th Inning	Palacios flied out to right.
	9th Inning	Caballero struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Miller relieved Kelly

Statistics

OAK		TB
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
10	Ground Balls	5
11	Strikeouts	8
3	Runs Batted In	0
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
6	Hits	3
1	Stolen Bases	0
4	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
3	Runs	0
2	Ground Into Double Play	1
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
31	At Bats	29
1	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
18	Runners Left On Base	9
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
0	Doubles	0
10	Fly Balls	16
0	Caught Stealing	0
134	Pitches	159
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
9	Total Bases	3
36	Plate Appearances	31
162.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
1	Extra Base Hits	0
2.5	Runs Created	-0.8
.194	Batting Average	.103
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.290	Slugging Percentage	.103
.258	Secondary Average	.069
.306	On Base Percentage	.161
.596	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.265
1.0	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.3
2.5	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	-0.8
22.0	Batter Rating	3.0
31.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.72	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	5.13
.097	Isolated Power	.000
0.36	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.25
.111	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.065
.065	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.034
6.0	Runs Produced	0.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	0.0
0.4	Patience Ratio	0.2
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.1
72.5	MLB Rating	57.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0