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Athletics-Rays Preview

Jul 12, 2009 - 4:41 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Oakland (35-49) at Tampa Bay (48-39), 1:38 p.m. EDT

The last time he pitched at Tropicana Field, Oakland A's rookie Brett Anderson won his first major league game. When he faces the Tampa Bay Rays this time, the 21-year-old looks to build off the most impressive victory of his young career.

Anderson tries to win his third straight start Sunday when the A's meet the Rays in their final game before the All-Star break.

After opening the season 0-4 with a 6.03 ERA, Anderson (5-7, 4.86 ERA) won his first game with a 7-6 victory over the Rays on May 20. The left-hander struck out five and allowed two earned runs over six innings.

Since that victory, Anderson is 4-3 with a 4.30 ERA, but 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA in his last two outings. Opponents are batting .122 against him during his brief winning streak.

Facing Boston at Fenway Park on Monday, Anderson struck out a career-best nine and threw a two-hitter as Oakland won 6-0. It was the first complete game by the A's since Justin Duchscherer tossed a two-hitter against Seattle on July 8, 2008.

"It's obviously very special for anybody, especially somebody of his age," Oakland manager Bob Geren said of Anderson.

A victory Sunday gives the A's their first series win at Tropicana Field since taking two of three from May 4-6, 2007.

Oakland (36-49), which had lost eight of its last 11 road games against the Rays, evened the series and snapped a three-game slide with Saturday's 7-2 win. After falling 6-0 in Friday's series opener, the A's tagged Tampa Bay pitching for 13 hits and snapped the Rays' nine-game home winning streak.

Rajai Davis and Adam Kennedy each hit two-run homers in the seventh inning. Oakland has an AL-low 69 home runs.

"The bottom line is scoring more than them, any way we can," Geren told the Athletics' official Web site. "We're pretty down on the homers. So today, getting the home runs was big. It was a big factor."

Gabe Kapler and Ben Zobrist gave Tampa Bay (48-40) a 2-0 lead with RBI singles, but the Rays could not extend their winning streak to five.

"It just got away from us," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, whose club is tied with Boston with an AL-best 30-14 home record. "It shouldn't, but it did."

James Shields (6-6, 3.38) will take the mound as the Rays close a six-game homestand. The right-hander opened this stretch on Tuesday when he yielded one run over seven innings of a 3-1, 11-inning victory over Toronto. He retired 11 straight after giving up four hits through three innings, but he did not factor in the decision.

"(Shields') velocity was good throughout - I thought he made good pitches, located well," Maddon said.

Shields gave up just four hits over 8 1-3 innings in a 4-1, 11-inning loss to Oakland on May 19.

Rays catcher Dioner Navarro is questionable after getting hit on his mask on a foul tip by Jack Cust while A's first baseman Jason Giambi is day-to-day after leaving with a bruised right elbow on Saturday.