ST. PETERSBURG — Chandler Simpson seized the American League batting lead and the Tampa Bay Rays rolled to their sixth consecutive victory, completing a sweep of the Oakland Athletics behind a six-run fourth inning at Tropicana Field.
Simpson went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases, notching his AL-leading 55th multihit game and pushing his average to .311 — past Houston’s Yordan Alvarez at .310. Simpson has been hitting .356 over the past three months. “A lot of big at-bats that inning, for sure,” manager Kevin Cash said of the fourth-inning outburst that sent 10 batters to the plate.
The frame began with Simpson lining a two-run single to center against A’s southpaw and former Ray Jeffrey Springs with the bases loaded and one out. After Ryan Vilade was hit by a pitch to reload the bases, Richie Palacios doubled past right fielder Lawrence Butler, scoring two. Vilade dashed home when the throw skipped away from catcher Jonah Heim, and Palacios scored on a perfectly placed bunt single by newly activated shortstop Taylor Walls. “He’s [an] amazing guy. That’s my guy. He’s doing an amazing thing in the season,” Palacios said of Simpson. “I know he hates talking about it. I don’t say anything around him about it, but hopefully he can finish that off.”
Walls’ bunt was the Rays’ 47th bunt hit this season, the second-most by any team in the pitch-tracking era since 2008 — trailing only the 2008 Twins’ 65. Walls himself has 18 bunt hits since his Major League debut in 2021. “He’s as important as anybody that’s in the lineup on a daily basis,” Cash said. “What he does defensively, what he’s created this year offensively for us by getting bunts down, stealing bases, getting some big hits for us — very important for us.”
Starter Drew Rasmussen earned his 15th win, coasting through five scoreless innings on 76 pitches with 51 strikes and lowering his ERA to 2.72. It was the Rays’ 11th consecutive win in a Rasmussen start, tying the franchise record set during 11 straight Matt Moore starts from Sept. 22, 2012, through May 19, 2013, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. “When Ras is on the mound, I know all we have to do is score a couple runs and then our job is done,” Simpson said.
The sweep was Tampa Bay’s 16th of the season, extending an already existing franchise record and matching the most by any team since the 2022 Dodgers. It is the most by an AL club since the 2019 Astros had 17. “We talk about it every single time we win the first two games in a series: Don’t be satisfied,” Rasmussen said. The victory was also the Rays’ 53rd at home, tied for the franchise’s second-most in a single season behind the 57 home wins posted by the 2008 pennant-winning club.
Left-hander Ian Seymour will start the series opener against the Red Sox as the Rays close out their regular-season home schedule this weekend at Tropicana Field. “Getting to be here all year and the success that we’ve had here — we all love this place now,” Seymour said. “Let’s finish strong at home and look forward to seeing the stands packed for the playoffs.”