Another rough night for Rays, starter Shane Baz in defeat to A's

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Aug 13, 2025

Published in Baseball

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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Rays are having a hard enough time winning games as it is.

Lending a hand to the opposition is making it even tougher.

In Tuesday’s 6-0 loss, mistakes or misplays by the Rays contributed to most of the runs for the A’s.

Chandler Simpson failed to cut off a ball hit to left-center, catcher Nick Fortes botched a popup near the mound, and starter Shane Baz hit a batter who came around to score and threw a wild pitch with a runner on third that plated another.

The loss dropped the Rays to a season-most-matching five games under .500 at 58-63. It was the 10th defeat in their last 14 games, 14th in 19 and 28th in 40 since the end of their majors-best 25-9 run in late June. They fell 6 ½ games out of the last wild-card spot.

In addition to Baz having another tough outing — his sixth loss in his last seven decisions — and the haphazard defense, the Rays were shut down, and shut out, by former teammate Jacob Lopez.

The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the second.

After Tyler Soderstrom’s leadoff single, Cody Thomas laced a ball to left-center that the speedy Simpson failed to cut off. That allowed Soderstrom to score from first.

The A’s scored three in the fourth to make it 4-0.

Baz hit Brent Rooker on the bill of his helmet to start the inning, and Soderstrom doubled, putting runners on second and third. Thomas’ sacrifice fly got one run home, and a double by Lawrence Butler scored another.

Things got worse from there.

Luis Urias popped a ball up to the third base side of the mound. Baz pointed toward it and third baseman Junior Caminero took a few steps up, but Fortes took charge and went for the ball. He somehow missed it, allowing Butler to score.

The A’s got their fifth run in the fifth.

With one out, Shea Langeliers doubled and Rooker walked. Brandon Lowe saved a run by making a diving stop and throw to first as the runners moved up. But Baz then threw a wild pitch, allowing Langeliers to score.

Baz worked seven innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks.

Lopez had spent six seasons in the Tampa Bay organization, including eight appearances in the majors (with a 4.76 ERA to show for it), before being included in the December trade of Jeffrey Springs to the A’s.

When the Rays faced Lopez June 30 in Tampa, he didn’t get out of the fourth inning, allowing four runs, including three earned.

The Rays certainly never saw him like this — riding a 24-inning scoreless streak.

Coming off his best big-league start Thursday in Washington, in which he posted 10 strikeouts and no walks while allowing three hits over 7 ⅔ scoreless innings, Lopez was nearly as good Tuesday.

He held the Rays to four hits over seven innings, striking out nine and walking none.

The A’s have won nine of his last 11 starts, and he is 6-2 with a 2.23 ERA over that span.

Baz had his own issues going into the start, having gone 0-5 with a 6.27 ERA over his previous seven starts, hiking his ERA from 4.37 to 4.92 over that span.

The Rays’ only win in that stretch came last week against the Angels, when Baz gave up an early 4-0 lead, but his teammates later rallied for a 5-4 win.

Making things worse for him Tuesday was facing a pesky and potent A’s lineup that stacked its four 20-homer hitters at the top of the order in a stadium, Sutter Health Park, in which the third-most homers had been hit, behind Dodger Stadium and Baltimore’s Camden Yards.

What tact, manager Kevin Cash was asked before the game, would be best for Baz?

“Probably eliminate worrying about their stats and just go execute his pitches,” Cash said. “I think we’ve seen Shane do some really good things, and then he’s had some struggles about getting deeper in ballgames or that one swing pitch in an inning or an at-bat, it seems that it’s come that back to bite him.

“So, find a way to have a complete game, meaning whether it’s five, six, seven innings, and set that tone early.”