Lawrence Butler lined a two-run, tie-breaking triple in the ninth inning as the Athletics opened a three-game series with a 6-4 victory over the host Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
In a 4-all game and runners on second and third with two outs, Butler hit his second triple of the season to left center off Pete Fairbanks (3-2) to plate Max Muncy and Max Schuemann.
Closer Mason Miller notched his 16th save with a scoreless ninth. He allowed a one-out single to Jonathan Aranda to bring the tying run to the plate, but induced Jose Caballero to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Reliever Sean Newcombe (2-4) earned the win, throwing only two pitches to end the eighth inning.
Shea Langeliers popped a three-run homer in his first at-bat off the injured list in the first inning.
Butler, Jacob Wilson (double) and Brent Rooker (double) had two hits apiece for the visitors.
Starting pitcher Jacob Lopez had a four-run lead, but his start unraveled after 3 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits with a strikeout and a walk.
The Rays’ Junior Caminero bashed a two-run homer, while Aranda went 2-for-4 with an RBI as the Rays closed out June at 17-10.
In his shortest outing of the season, starter Drew Rasmussen lasted just three innings, surrendering four runs on five hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Just reinstated from the 10-day IL (oblique), Langeliers put the visitors up 3-0 in the first with a 408-foot blast to left center, his 11th long ball, following Rooker’s double and Nick Kurtz’s walk.
Rasmussen ran into more trouble in the third as the order rolled over. Rooker punched an RBI single for a 4-0 advantage.
Lopez, who made his majors debut in 2023 with Tampa Bay, pitched perfectly to contact through the first 10 batters before walking Curtis Mead with one out in the fourth before Caminero came up. Down 0-2 in the count, the slugger ripped a fastball 425 feet to straightaway center, his team-leading 21st homer.
Run-scoring singles by Aranda and Caballero (bunt) knotted the game and chased Perez as the Rays batted around in the four-run frame.
In his major league debut, A’s left fielder Colby Thomas ended the eighth by throwing out Brandon Lowe at the plate on a single that would have put the Rays ahead.
