Tampa Bay Rays at Athletics

The Rays know there are plenty of ways to win baseball games. During an incredible road trip that culminated in an 8-4 win over the A’s on Wednesday at Sutter Health Park, they got to experience just about all of them. Tampa Bay swept through the Rockies in Colorado, the Mariners in Seattle and the A’s in West Sacramento for a perfect 9-0 road trip -- the first unbeaten trip of three or more series in franchise history. It's just the 13th road trip of 9-0 or better by any team in the Modern Era (since 1900), per Stats Perform. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Red Sox are the only other team to have won all nine-plus games of a road trip in Mountain or Pacific time zones. (Boston went a combined 9-0 against the Angels, Mariners and Athletics from July 29-Aug. 7, 1977.) “We did everything really well,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We hit well. We pitched well. We defended well. We ran the bases well. As a result, we found a way to get nine wins. Very impressive by that group.” The Rays finished their West Coast swing by dominating the struggling A’s, averaging 10 runs per game in a three-game series that saw a different method of victory in each contest. * Rays to open upper deck Saturday as Flappy Boi, first-place club pack the Trop