Tampa Bay Rays Struggle in Game 3 Against the A’s

After taking the series with a clean sweep against the Orioles, the Tampa Bay Rays are struggling against the Oakland Athletics. The A’s took game one in a blowout win with a final score of 13-2. The Rays took the next game 9-8, and the A’s took Wednesday’s game over the Rays 4-2. The teams will face once again today at 1:10 p.m. to close the series.

The final game of the series and the homestand starts tomorrow at 1:10pm pic.twitter.com/A0Xx2MZb0X

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 14, 2022

Oakland pitcher Frankie Montas only allowed two runs and five hits as he pitched for 6 1/3 innings. Montas struck out six to carry the A’s to a win.

Then in the fourth inning, Ji-Man Choi with Tampa Bay got a solo homer that put the Rays on the board.

The lone run for the #Rays today off the bat of Ji-Man Choi.

406 FT BOMBApic.twitter.com/H67yl7UNyw

— Rays The Roof (@RaysTheRoofTB) April 14, 2022

Shane McClanahan was pitching for the Rays on Wednesday afternoon, but he was not able to pull out a win as the A’s stayed fiery. Sean Murphy, catcher for Oakland, hit a three-run homer against McClanahan for his first homerun of the season. McClanahan gave up three runs, three walks and two hits. He also struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings.

“It was just kind of a frustrating day,” McClanahan said, according to ESPN. “I thought I threw the ball well and the results weren’t there.”

The A’s brought in Lou Trivino to relieve and he got his first save in the ninth to get out of a two-out jam. Trivino gave up a single to Rays catcher Francisco Mejía and walked Brandon Lowe before inducing a foul popup from Wander Franco.

Selected Knight

The Rays selected Dusten Knight, a relief pitcher, from Triple A-Durham. They also opened a spot on the 40-man roster by transferring right-handed pitcher Luis Patino from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

Concluding the Four-Game Series

On the mound for the fourth and final game of the series will be Cole Irvin for the A’s and Josh Fleming for the Rays.