Montas pitches into 7th, Murphy homers, A’s beat Rays 4-2

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Frankie Montas pitched neatly into the seventh inning, Sean Murphy hit a three-run homer, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2. Montas allowed two runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings as the A’s defeated Tampa Bay for the second time in three days. Tampa Bay got a fourth-inning solo homer from Ji-Man Choi. After Jed Lowrie and Stephen Piscotty drew two-out walks in the third, Murphy took Shane McClanahan deep to put the A’s up 3-0. Murphy’s homer was his first this season. Lou Trivino, the third Oakland reliever, worked the ninth for his first save.