OAKLAND, Calif. — Pinch-hitter Carlos Pérez broke a tie with an RBI groundout in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Tuesday night in front of a spirited crowd at the Coliseum.
The A’s drew a season-high attendance of 27,759 as Oakland fans held a “reverse boycott” to protest the team’s planned move to Las Vegas. It was a playoff-like atmosphere for the A’s season-high seventh straight victory, with the crowd repeatedly chanting “Sell the team!” and “Stay in Oakland!”
“Tonight was as close to a playoff crowd as I think I’ve experienced managing a game,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “The energy, the atmosphere was everything that this stadium can be.”
Fans also shouted their anger at team owner John Fisher throughout the night and some threw cups and bottles onto the field after the game ended.
“If you want to use the word ‘anger,’ it wasn’t directed at the players,” Kotsay said. “We felt the energy on the fans’ side supporting us passionately. You could feel them just wanting us to win that game.”
Many arrived hours before first pitch to tailgate in the parking lot, with the first 7,000 receiving fan-funded “SELL” shirts made by local company Oaklandish.
“It was cool,” A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker said. “It was really, really fun. We had a good time playing. … They came out and they made it very clear how passionate they were about this city and this team, which was cool to see, and we fed off that energy all night.”
With the game tied at 1, Ramón Laureano singled off Colin Poche (4-2) to lead off the eighth inning. Laureano advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jonah Bride and then stole third.
Pérez hit for Seth Brown and sent a sharp grounder to third, off the glove of a diving Isaac Paredes, who recovered to throw Pérez out at first, but Laureano scored the go-ahead run.