ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Nick Martinez keeps stacking wins while the Rays keep stacking games in the American League East.
The right-hander worked five efficient innings for his 15th victory as Tampa Bay beat the Athletics 4-3 on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, the Associated Press reported. The Rays (92-59) won their fifth straight, stretched their division lead to 4 1/2 games over the Yankees, and reminded the league why they were the first major league club to clinch a postseason berth last week.
CBS Sports lists Martinez (15-4) at 5.0 innings, five hits, two earned runs, no walks and three strikeouts on 72 pitches with two home runs allowed and a 2.94 ERA. ESPN's recap matches the efficiency note and places him two victories shy of AL wins leader Sonny Gray of Boston.
It was not a shutdown masterpiece against the long ball - Tommy White and Henry Bolte both went deep in the third - but it was enough to hand a four-run cushion to a bullpen that finished the job.
Early runs, midgame traffic
Jonny DeLuca went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, and Chandler Simpson also drove in a run with a double as Tampa Bay jumped ahead 2-0 in the first. Nick Fortes and Ryan Vilade each drove in a run in the second, building a 4-0 lead before the Athletics answered with the two homers in the third.
Kevin Kelly threw two innings and struck out four. Cam Booser worked a scoreless eighth. Cole Sulser finished the ninth for his third save. Shea Langeliers' RBI single in the sixth for the A's extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games, the AP noted, but Tampa Bay's early cushion held.
Brady Basso (1-3) took the loss after 2 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. The Athletics are fading in the AL West; the Rays are polishing a first-place September.
