A's homer twice, KO Colome, Rays in 9th

July 24th, 2016

OAKLAND -- and homered in the ninth to hand his first blown save of the season as the A's stunned the Rays with a 4-3 win Saturday night at the Oakland Coliseum. It was the A's third walk-off win in five games. 
"I don't think there's anything more fun than walk-off wins in baseball," said Healy, who was called up last Friday. "The fact we've been able to have so many in my short eight-day career just makes winning that much better." 
Colome entered the game riding a streak of 21 consecutive saves. One more would have tied him with , who converted a club-record 22 straight in 2012. 
Smolinski said he was looking for a first-pitch fastball from Colome. 
"I saw him the other day and he grooved one and I took it," Smolinski said. "And after that I saw his cutter/slider that was pretty nasty, so I told [hitting coach Darren Bush] I was going to be ready for that first-pitch heater if I got it again and I did."

The Rays closer took over for to start the ninth and walked the leadoff man, . One out later, Smolinski homered on a line drive to left field to tie the score at 3.
Healy then homered with two outs to give the A's a walk-off win.
"Just one of those outings," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "A little bit of a head scratcher. You just don't see him get barreled up like that and he did. But Alex will bounce back fine and he'll be right back in there helping us win a ballgame tomorrow."
Davis gave the A's a 1-0 lead in the first after his single drove home . The Rays answered in the top of the second when came through with an RBI single. grounded out in the fourth to drive home and give the Rays the a 2-1 lead. 's RBI single in the seventh pushed the lead to 3-1.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Healy wins it in the ninth: Healy hit the second homer of his young career, a walk-off blast into left to cap a three-run rally in the ninth, following Smolinski's two-run shot to open the inning. More >

Arcia comes through: Though Arcia played in every game of the three-game set at Colorado, he had not played in the first two games of the Oakland series. He got a start in right field Saturday night and came through. In his first at-bat, he singled to drive home the Rays' first run. In his next at-bat, he doubled deep to center field to move to third. Pearce then scored on Guyer's groundout to second, putting the Rays up 2-1. Arcia later left the game with a mild right-elbow strain. More >

Graveman bails out bullpen: A's starter was solid yet again, throwing the first complete game of his career and the first by an Oakland starter this year. He's allowed three runs or fewer in all but two starts since May 14, and has thrown seven or more innings in each of his last three starts after doing so just once in his first 16 starts of the season. Smolinski and Healy's heroics rewarded Graveman with a much-deserved win.
"He hung in there, gave us a complete game," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "So he got what he deserved there at the end."

Smyly gets on track: Rays starter entered the game 0-7 with a 7.60 ERA over his previous 10 starts. Though he got a no-decision, Smyly dodged becoming the first Rays starter since 2007 to drop eight straight decisions (Andy Sonnanstine, ). Of note, Smyly allowed just one run in six innings, and it was not a home run. He's allowed 21 in 111 1/3 innings this season.
"My cutter was a good pitch tonight for me. I was able to throw it tonight when I was behind in the count, get it over early and that helps get people off my fastball," Smyly said. "Feels great to get good results, to leave the game with the lead. Knowing that your team's in it and has a good chance to win. It didn't work out for us tonight. It's unfortunate."

QUOTABLE
"Really good start for Drew. And hopefully, like we talked about ... this is a little contagious and this is what the starting staff is capable of. Keeping us in and giving us an outstanding performance. Because that's what that was today." -- Cash on Smyly
WHAT'S NEXT
Rays: (2-4, 3.11) makes his eighth start after completing his best start of his young career Tuesday at Colorado. After a two-hour rain delay, he threw six scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. In his last two games, the left-hander has seen his strike percentage rise as well as the percentage of swings and misses at his pitches.
Home team: (2-4, 6.49) makes his first Major League start since being sent to Triple-A on June 10, marking his third stint with Oakland this year. He went 0-4 with a 5.02 ERA in seven starts following the demotion, but rebounded in his three most recent outings, posting a 2.77 ERA. He went 6-6 with a 3.35 ERA in 16 starts last year.
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