OAKLAND, Calif.—JJ Bleday hit a two-run home run, Joe Boyle pitched six scoreless innings, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3–0 on Monday night.
Bleday blasted his 16th home run in the first inning and Lawrence Butler added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to account for all of the offense.
“If I get this job done, we get a run on the board,” Butler said. “I’m really in the box focused up, trying to do the job for my team.”
Boyle (3–5) limited the Rays to just two hits and three walks while striking out six. Grant Holman, Tyler Ferguson, and Mason Miller each followed with hitless innings while combining for five more strikeouts. Miller recorded his 19th save.
“Throwing with conviction and trusting my stuff is probably the biggest thing,” Boyle said. “It’s worked for me in the past, and it’s what I want to continue to do.”
The A’s jumped out to an early lead when Butler led off the first with a single and, after Brent Rooker struck out, Bleday smashed a fastball into the right-field bleachers.
“I love setting the tone for the team,” Butler said. “I’m trying to bring the energy, just trying to get the boys going, so I enjoy hitting first.”
Zack Gelof had two of Oakland’s six hits, with a single in the second and double in the fifth. He scored on Butler’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Tampa Bay had runners on in all but three innings but could not convert. The Rays were hitless until the fifth when Yandy Díaz singled with two outs but was left stranded. Díaz has reached base in 31 straight road games.
Boyle threw 104 pitches and his six strikeouts tied a career high.
“I definitely think he pushed through those six innings. It wasn’t necessarily pretty,” Oakland Manager Mark Kotsay said. “He really showed a little bit of fight and some bounce-back, too.”
