ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tommy White led off the third with a home run and kept hitting after that.
White finished 3-for-4 with a solo shot to left - a 347-foot drive into the corner - and an RBI as the Athletics fell 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, per ESPN's box and the Associated Press recap.
Henry Bolte followed White's blast with a homer to center in the same inning, cutting into an early Tampa Bay lead, but the Athletics never caught all the way up.
Rays jump first
Tampa Bay scored twice in the first on RBI doubles by Jonny DeLuca and Chandler Simpson, then added runs from Nick Fortes and Ryan Vilade in the second, the AP reported. Brady Basso (1-3) lasted only 2 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits. By the time White and Bolte went back-to-back in the third, the Athletics were already playing from behind.
White's night was the clearest individual line on the visiting side. Three hits. A homer. No strikeouts. Jeff McNeil added a 2-for-3 night, and Shea Langeliers pushed an RBI single in the sixth that extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games. None of that erased the four-run hole Basso left.
Martinez sets the tone
Nick Martinez (15-4) worked five innings for Tampa Bay - five hits, two runs, no walks, three strikeouts on 72 pitches - and earned his 15th win, the AP wrote. Both Athletics runs against him came on the third-inning homers. Kevin Kelly followed with two innings and four strikeouts; Cam Booser and Cole Sulser finished, with Sulser recording his third save.
ESPN's pitching lines match that split.
The Rays improved to 92-59, won their fifth straight and stretched their AL East lead to 4 1/2 games over the Yankees. They had already clinched a postseason berth last week. The Athletics fell to 61-91. White's average sat at .259 after the three-hit night, a personal win inside a team loss.
