This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Two teams on opposite ends of emotional games will meet in Oakland on Monday night when the Athletics open a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays kept their flickering hopes alive for an American League wild-card spot with a three-game home sweep over the Arizona Diamondbacks that included two walk-off wins, including Dylan Carlson’s RBI single that produced an 8-7, 12-inning victory Sunday.
While the Rays were enjoying their thrilling win, the A’s were trying to regroup after their 4-2, 10-inning home loss to the San Francisco Giants in the final game of the annual Bay Bridge Series.
Tampa Bay will send right-hander Taj Bradley (6-7, 3.49 ERA) to the mound to kick off a critical 10-game trip in which they also will face the Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners.
The Rays begin the week 6 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the AL. Seattle is also among the three teams with their sights on the Kansas City Royals in pursuit of the final spot, with the Mariners currently one game up on Tampa Bay.
The one-run victory not only was critical in the standings but also put the Rays in a different frame of mind headed on the road.
“It was nice to bounce back with some tight games, big wins,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “We do feel good getting ready to get on a flight to go out west.”
Before facing the Dodgers and having a showdown with the Mariners, the Rays will have to deal with an A’s team that has played much better over the past month and made Tampa Bay work hard in an earlier three-game set in Florida.
Tampa Bay won two of those games, but needed walk-off hits in both cases after Oakland had opened the series with a 3-0 win.
Bradley did not pitch in that series. He has one career outing against the Athletics. He gave up three runs (two earned) and struck out 11 in 4 1/3 innings last June. He did not get a decision.
The Los Angeles native has struggled of late, giving up 15 runs over 14 innings in his past three starts, all losses.
A’s righty Joe Boyle (2-5, 7.39) is scheduled to get the start. Boyle has never faced the Rays in his two-year career.
The 25-year-old won’t be entering the contest in top form. Promoted from the minors after making 11 starts at Triple-A, Boyle served up four runs and seven hits in four-plus innings in a 9-4 road win over the New York Mets on Tuesday.
Boyle will have to worry about the state of his teammates, who are coming off a tough loss.
Having been ejected for arguing a borderline strike call that could have given his team a lead in the seventh inning, Oakland manager Mark Kotsay was still a bit rattled when he addressed the media.
“Biggest pitch of the game. I probably got emotional in that situation,” he said. “But I felt like at that point it dictated maybe the outcome of the game.”
–Field Level Media
