Rays 10, Athletics 1: Six in the Fourth, a Sweep, and the AL East Lead

Ten batters, a bunt, and a lead that did not come back

September 17, 2026 - St. Petersburg - The fourth inning at Tropicana Field started 0-0. It ended with ten Rays having come to the plate, Taylor Walls dropping a bunt along the third-base line, and a 6-0 game that the Athletics never threatened.

The Tampa Bay Rays won 10-1. They swept the series. It was their 16th series sweep of the year, matching the 2022 Dodgers for the most by any club since then, the Associated Press recap said. They are 93-59, five games up in the American League East, and they have already locked a wild-card spot. The AL East title has not been theirs since 2021. Ten games remain, including four next week in the Bronx.

Dome. 72 degrees. Attendance 12,305. The game lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes. Tampa Bay had seven hits and still scored 10. Oakland had five hits, two errors, and one swing that left the yard after the game had already left.

Simpson found center, Palacios found the gap, Walls found the grass

Jeffrey Springs had retired the first nine. Then the fourth loaded with one out. Chandler Simpson lined a two-run single to center. Junior Caminero scored. Liam Hicks scored. Jonny DeLuca went to third. 2-0.

Ryan Vilade was hit by a pitch. Bases loaded again. Richie Palacios lined a double past Lawrence Butler in right. DeLuca scored. Simpson scored. Vilade scored when the throw home skipped away from Jonah Heim, Palacios taking third. Springs was not watching, the MLB recap said, as Vilade slid into an empty plate. 5-0.

Walls, wearing No. 6 on a day of sixes, put a bunt down the third-base line. Palacios scored. 6-0. The MLB recap said it was Tampa Bay's 47th bunt hit of the season, second-most in the pitch-tracking era behind the 2008 Twins. Manager Kevin Cash, per the MLB recap: "A lot of big at-bats that inning, for sure."

Springs (4-14) lasted 3 1/3 innings. Five hits. Six runs. Two walks. Four strikeouts. Sixty-six pitches. The AP recap said he is 1-14 in 24 starts since opening 3-0. Geoff Hartlieb threw 1 2/3 scoreless after him. Joe Rock faced three hitters in the sixth without recording an out. The AP recap noted he became Oakland's 60th player this season.

Rasmussen's five, then walks and an error did the rest

Drew Rasmussen threw five scoreless innings. Four hits. Two walks. Three strikeouts. Seventy-six pitches. He is 15-5. The AP recap said Tampa Bay has won his last 11 starts, the most for an American League pitcher coming out of the All-Star break since Johan Santana's 12 for Minnesota in 2006. He stranded runners in scoring position in the third and the fifth. That is the start you want when the lineup is about to send 10 men up.

Butler homered to right in the sixth, 437 feet, off Casey Legumina. 6-1. His 17th. Oakland's only run. The bottom of the sixth answered with two walks that scored. Simpson was on. Cedric Mullins and Palacios moved up. Walls walked, Simpson scoring. Jonathan Aranda walked, Mullins scoring. 8-1.

The eighth was messier. Walls reached. Aranda reached on a fielding error by Henry Bolte. Hicks singled through the middle, deflected by Denzel Clarke, and both scored. 10-1. Hicks finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Palacios went 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, and two RBI. Walls had the bunt, the walk, and two RBI. Four different Rays drove in two. That is how a seven-hit afternoon becomes 10 runs.

Steven Matz and Alex Cook each threw a scoreless inning at the end. Oakland did not put another runner in scoring position.

A batting race, 44 steals, and a date with the Yankees

Simpson went 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, and two stolen bases. The AP recap said the steals raised his American League-high total to 44. The MLB recap had him at .3107, a tick behind Yordan Alvarez at .3114 for the AL batting lead, then noted Simpson is hitting .356 over the past three months. Palacios, per the MLB recap, talked for him: "I know he hates to talk about numbers; I'll talk about them for him. He's an amazing guy. That's my guy."

The Rays have won six straight, 10 of 12, and 16 of 23. They are 34 games over .500 for the first time since the end of 2023, the AP recap said. Friday they start a series with Boston at the Trop. Ian Seymour is listed. Next week they go to New York. That is the series that will tell you if five games in the East is a cushion or a number that still needs protecting.

Oakland is 61-92. Butler had two hits and the homer. Denzel Clarke stole two bases. The rest of the card was five hits and two errors against a club that did not need extra-base power to bury a Thursday.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Tampa Bay at 22 team fantasy points, first on a nine-game Thursday. Simpson had 10 hitting FP. Palacios had 7. Rasmussen had 14 pitching FP. Oakland finished at minus-9.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN box score, Associated Press recap via CBS Sports, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*