Mengden, Davis lift A’s past Rays

OAKLAND (TNS) – Khris Davis was back, and so were the Athletics.

After stumbling through nine games of the homestand with Davis on the disabled list, the Athletics’ designated hitter doubled on the second pitch he saw to ignite a three-run rally in the second inning.

Davis’ teammates on offense and May sensation Daniel Mengden did the rest in a 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays before a crowd of 12,070 at the Coliseum.

Davis narrowly missed a home run leading off the second inning, driving a 1-0 pitch from starter Ryne Stanek off the top of the wall in right center. By the time the inning was over, Stephen Piscotty had doubled home two runs and Mark Canha singled in another.

By the time the eighth inning was over, all three Matts in the starting lineup – Olson in the seventh, Chapman in the seventh and Joyce in the eighth – had homered to give the A’s a 7-0 lead.

All that was left was to see if Mengden (6-4) could pitch

Bay Area News Group/tns Oakland A’s starting pitcher Daniel Mengden capped off an impressive month by taking a shutout into the ninth inning of Thursday’s 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland.

his second consecutive shutout. It wasn’t to be, as the Rays opened the ninth with three straight hits and ended up scoring three times – all charged to Mengden.

That didn’t dilute the feeling in the A’s clubhouse as they finished a 4-6 homestand and embarked on a five-game road trip to Kansas City and Texas with a 29-28 record and the knowledge that their most intimidating power hitter was back.

Since the start of the 2016 season, Davis’ has 98 home runs, the most in the Major Leagues and one ahead of the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton.

“There’s certain guys that are more impactful than others,”a’s manager Bob Melvin said. “They lengthen the lineup for you. He had a big effect on the game today and certainly to get a hit your first time up makes you feel good. After 10 days off you can feel a little rusty, but that wasn’t the case.”

Davis, who strained a hamstring on May 20, admitted to some rust after watching the A’s hit just .155 in his absence over nine games.

“The speed of the game is not there yet,” Davis said. “I need some time to get in shape, but I feel pretty good.”

Mengden was to the Athletics in May what Sean Manaea was to the starting rotation in April.

The right-hander with the handlebar mustache and old-fashioned crank windup was coming off a two-hit shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks and had 25 scoreless innings until the Rays broke through in the ninth. It was the longest scoreless streak by an A’s pitcher since reliever Sean Doolittle had a 26 inning streak in 2014 and the longest for a starter since Cory Lidle had 32 consecutive scoreless innings in 2002.

In May, Mengden was 4-1 with a 1.67 earned run average – the first time in his career he’s won four straight starts.