BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
The A’s squandered seven scoreless innings from Frankie Montas, getting shut out by three Tampa Bay pitchers in a 3-0 loss to the Rays Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. The loss concluded a winless home stand for the Athletics, leaving them with a six-game losing streak.
Tampa Bay’s Corey Kluber delivered six shutout innings on only 64 pitches against Oakland Wednesday to help the Rays down the Athletics 3-0 and sweep the three game series.
Corey Kluber made it look easy on the mound against the A’s, needing only 64 pitches in route to six shut out innings. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner left allowing only three hits while striking out seven, lowering his ERA to 2.36.
With Montas out, Tampa Bay finally broke through against Zach Jackson for three runs in the eighth. After Jackson hit Brandon Lowe with a pitch to load the bases, Manuel Margot laced a single to right to score the first two runs of the game. Moments later a third run scored as a balk by Domingo Acevedo would allow Lowe to cross the plate.
“Frankie threw a great game,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “Seven innings and ends up getting a no-decision. He deserved better than that.” Montas lowered his ERA to 3.44.
A’s pitcher Frankie Montas hurled seven scoreless innings against the Rays Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn’t enough as Tampa Bay scored a 3-0 win to extend Oakland’s losing streak to six games.
Oakland now heads out for a eight game road trip, starting with a weekend series in Minneapolis against the Twins before moving on to Detroit for five games. Cole Irvin (2-1, 2.93) is scheduled to take the mound for the A’s Friday night in the opener. The Twins have yet to name their starter.
GAME NOTES:
The Athletics finished the season series 3-4 against Tampa Bay.
Outfielder Ramón Laureano is scheduled to return from his 80 game PED suspension for the final game of the Twins series on Sunday.
This was the first time since 1956, when the club was in Kansas City, that it’s gone winless in a home stand that lasted at least six games.
On this date in 1969, pitcher John “Blue Moon” Odom went 3-3 with a homer and six RBI’s in the second game of a doubleheader and picked up the win as the A’s downed the Seattle Pilots by a 11-7 score.
