A’s lose 4-2 to Rays after 2-run homerun breaks tying score

Jose Siri hit a home run for the second straight game on Wednesday night as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Oakland Athletics 4-2.

Siri’s 423-foot, two-run blast to left in the seventh inning broke a 2-2 tie. The center fielder was hitless in 21 at-bats before driving in the game’s lone run in the Rays’ 1-0 victory on Tuesday with a solo homer in the eighth inning. He went 2 for 4 on Wednesday.

The Rays have won five of six games, while the A’s have lost two games in a row for the second time since the All-Star break.

Rays starter Ryan Pepiot (7-5), who celebrated his 27th birthday on Wednesday, allowed two runs on three hits in six innings in his second start since returning from a stint on the injured list after a spider bite and a knee infection led to a hospital stay. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven straight starts.

Manuel Rodríguez recorded his first save of the season and Drew Rasmussen retired Oakland’s Brent Rooker with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning.

Tampa Bay scored twice in the fifth inning, taking the lead on a two-out RBI double by Yandy Díaz. Díaz drove in Jonny DeLuca, who stole second after reaching a fielder’s choice groundout that tied the game. José Caballero and Siri led off the inning with hits.

JJ Bleday gave the A’s an early lead with a solo homerun in the first inning and Brent Rooker hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to tie the score at 2-2.

The A’s starting pitcher, Mitch Spence (7-9), allowed four runs in seven innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters before an announced crowd of 10,339 at the Coliseum.

Both managers were ejected for disagreeing on their own game strategy: the Rays’ Kevin Cash in the seventh inning after umpire Brock Ballou ruled that Caballero leaned toward a ball that hit him, and the A’s’ Mark Kotsay in the eighth inning after Miguel Andujar was intercepted on first down.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: IF Tyler Soderstrom (wrist), who is on the 10-day injured list, played catch on Wednesday. … IF Jacob Wilson (hamstring) played seven innings at shortstop on Tuesday at Triple-A Las Vegas.

NEXT

RHP Osvaldo Bido (4-3, 3.40 ERA) pitches for the A’s to end the four-game series, while LHP Jeffrey Springs (1-1, 3.86 ERA) takes the mound for the Rays.

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