The Tampa Bay Rays extended Major League Baseball’s best start in 20 years behind Jeffrey Springs’ seven three-hit innings of ball and Randy Arozarena’s four RBIs, defeating the Oakland Athletics 11-0 on Saturday to an 8-0 record.
Tampa Bay is the first major league team to open 8-0 since the 2003 Kansas City Royals won their first nine games. The Rays have outscored their opponents 64-18 and are the first team to win their first eight games by four or more runs since the Union Association’s 1884 St. Louis Maroons did so in their first 13.
No team had won eight straight games by that margin at any point in a season since the 1939 Yankees did it 10 straight times.
Isaac Paredes and Brandon Lowe each had three RBIs for the Rays.
Springs (2-0), coming off six hitless innings in his season debut against Detroit, allowed a leadoff single in the first to Esteury Ruiz. He struck out seven, bringing his total to 19 in 13 innings.
Shintaro Fujinami (0-2) allowed five runs, three hits, four walks and hit one batter over 4 1-3 innings in his second major league start. The right-hander didn’t allow a hit until Wander Franco’s one-out infield single in the fourth.
Fujinami, who signed as a free agent in January after pitching 10 years for Japan’s Central League Hanshin, allowed eight runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 13-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels in his NBA debut. Major League Baseball on April 1. the next start could be at home against the Mets’ Kodai Senga.
Oakland, which had only three hits, has lost six of eight and is hitting .209.
Tampa Bay scored three times in the fifth to go up 5-0 on three hit batters, two walks and a single. Arozarena ended Fujinami’s day with a two-run single, and Paredes had an RBI when he was hit by a pitch from Sam Noll.
Arozarena hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Carlos Pérez, usually a catcher.
Manuel Margot hit a solo shot and Lowe added a three-run shot in the sixth off Domingo Acevedo.
