Paging Jonny Gomes: the Rays need someone to dive-bomb Coco Crisp. The Oakland A’s center fielder, infamous for his role in the fabled Rays-Sox brawl in 2008, was quite the handful as Tampa Bay lost to Oakland 3-4. The Crispy One scored the first run of the game for the A’s and made a helluva catch to rob Matt Joyce of a two-run homer in the sixth inning, changing the outcome of the evening.
Andy Sonnanstine took the hill for the Rays, not having his sharpest stuff but definitely pitching well enough to get the W; Sonny pitched one out into the sixth inning, yielding three runs on five hits, striking out three and walking three. Crisp scored in the bottom of the first inning after leading off with a single; he crossed the plate on a ground out by Kurt Suzuki.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2010.