Matt Andriese sizzles in shutout, Rays beat A's to snap skid
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Matt Andriese won for the second time in two starts this week and earned the chance to remain in the Tampa Bay Rays' rotation.
The right-hander pitched a two-hitter for his first career shutout, leading the Rays to a 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night.
"You never take that (spot) for granted. I felt like every day I'm fighting for myself," Andriese said. "Today helped me build on that and I'm pretty excited about the outing."
Andriese (2-0) struck out five and walked none, and retired 11 straight between singles by Matt McBride in the third inning and Danny Valencia in the seventh.
Andriese helped the Rays end a four-game losing streak. He beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Sunday in his first start since being called up from Triple-A Durham.
Manager Kevin Cash, who declared after the game that the 26-year-old Andriese will remain in the rotation, said there wasn't much discussion about going to the bullpen.
"We would have had there been any traffic on base, but he controlled the game about as well as you could and he kept his pitch count down low," Cash said. "Then it was just -- let's see how each inning goes."
Oakland manager Bob Melvin was also impressed by Andriese's repertoire.
"A pretty good mix of pitches," Melvin said. "He's got some deception ... curveball, cutter, both sides of the plate, changeup. (His) fastball gets on you a little bit. That's two good starts in a row for him."
In only his second start of the season and 10th of his major league career, Andriese pitched the Rays' first complete game of the season and matched Chris Archer for the most wins by a Rays starter.
"It's always nice to get a complete-game shutout, but that wasn't in my thought process at all," said Andriese, who pitched as many as eight innings only twice in the minors. "I wanted to give us a chance to win. Then when I went to the seventh inning it was a close game and they keep going with me."
Brad Miller's two-run home run off Kendall Gravemen (1-5) gave the Rays the runs they needed after Brandon Guyer's double in the third.
"When Andriese pitches like that, it kind of set the tone and we were able to settle in and get some runs," said Miller, who hit his fifth homer of the season.
Steve Pearce and Kevin Kiermaier drove in runs in the sixth to push Tampa Bay's lead to 4-0. Guyer added a two-run single in the eighth off reliever Marc Rzepczynski.
Graveman gave up four runs and six hits with three walks in 5 2/3 innings, losing his fourth straight start.
The A's have lost six of their last seven games.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: RHP John Axford has not pitched since being struck on the left foot by a line drive Monday in Boston, but manager Bob Melvin expects to use him son, possibly Sunday. "As far as the bullpen goes, we're as close to full strength as we've been in a while," Melvin said.
Rays: 2B Logan Forsythe was put on the 15-day disabled list when an MRI taken Saturday morning revealed a hairline fracture of his left shoulder blade. The shoulder will be re-evaluated on May 31, three weeks after Forsythe was hit by a pitch from Seattle's Felix Hernandez. "There won't be much to the recovery, just to let it heal," Forsythe said. . . . RHP Brad Boxberger (adductor surgery) will make his first rehab appearance for Class A Charlotte on Sunday.
ROSTER MOVE
The Rays announced after the game that RHP Danny Farquhar, who has appeared in six games, has been designated for assignment. A corresponding roster move will be made Sunday.
UP NEXT
RHP Sonny Gray (3-4) will start the series finale for the A's against LHP Matt Moore (1-3). Both starters have lost their last three decisions.
