Athletics at Rays
Following a long day of baseball and little rest, the Tampa Bay Rays host the Oakland Athletics on Sunday afternoon for the finale of their four-game series. The teams split only the second scheduled doubleheader in the majors in two decades on Saturday as the Rays won the opener on a walk-off single by Evan Longoria while the Athletics battled back with three homers in the nightcap for a 7-2 victory.
Longoria went 5-for-9 - including his 250th career homer - with three RBIs in the doubleheader as Tampa Bay moved to 4-2 on its seven-game homestand with ace Chris Archer slated to start Sunday. The Rays will need a long outing from Archer as the bullpen was taxed Saturday thanks to the twinbill and the loss of second-game starter Matt Andriese to a groin injury before the second inning. Oakland counters with Jesse Hahn - a 2010 draft pick of Tampa Bay - as it attempts to win back-to-back road games for the first time since April 10 and 12. Ryon Healy belted one of the homers in the second game for the Athletics on Saturday and has gone deep five times and driven in 13 runs in his last eight contests.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, NBCSN California (Oakland), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Jesse Hahn (2-4, 3.40 ERA) vs. Rays RH Chris Archer (4-4, 3.65)
Hahn snapped a six-game winless stretch by limiting Toronto to an unearned run and seven hits over six innings on Tuesday. The 27-year-old Connecticut native has surrendered just one homer in 55 2/3 frames - none in his last seven outings - this season and is 0-3 with a 2.84 ERA on the road. Corey Dickerson is 3-for-7 with a homer against Hahn, who allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings in his only turn against the Rays.
Archer has recorded six quality starts in his last eight outings but has managed just a 2-3 record in that span after permitting two runs over seven innings in a loss to the Chicago White Sox last time out. The 28-year-old North Carolina native has completed at least seven frames in each of his last three starts and has struck out 69 in his last seven turns to push his total to 106 - second in the American League. Stephen Vogt is 2-for-3 with a homer versus Archer, who won his only career start against Oakland.
WALK-OFFS
1. Oakland 1B Yonder Alonso went 7-for-10 with a pair of RBIs in Saturday’s doubleheader.
2. Tampa Bay OF Mallex Smith is 5-for-11 with a homer, four runs scored and four stolen bases in three games since being recalled.
3. Athletics OF Khris Davis is 8-for-20 with six RBIs during his five-game hitting streak and leads the team with 17 homers.