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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Jason Giambi helped the Oakland
Athletics start a key 11-game road trip the right way.
|  | | Jason Giambi had a grand slam and drove in seven runs Friday night, but the Oakland slugger has done it before. Giambi last had seven RBI in June against San Diego. |
Giambi hit a grand slam and tied a career-high with seven RBIs
as the Athletics routed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 17-3 Friday night.
"It makes it nice to come up when you've got guys on base all
the time," Giambi said. "It makes it real easy. It's so much fun
to come to the yard and have that opportunity to do something
special. It's great."
Giambi set an Oakland record with his fourth grand slam of the
season in the third inning. He added an RBI single in the fourth
and a two-run double in the fifth.
The Athletics, who have won nine of 12, tied a major league
record with their 12th grand slam this season. Atlanta (1997) and
Cleveland (1999) also accomplished the feat.
Oakland stayed a game behind Cleveland for the AL wild card. The
Indians beat the New York Yankees 11-1. The Athletics trail
Seattle, who beat Baltimore 10-2, by two games in the AL West.
"I didn't like what I was looking at," said Oakland manager
Art Howe, when asked about scoreboard watching. "It was an ugly
scoreboard tonight, other than our game."
After playing Tampa Bay and Baltimore, the Athletics close out
the trip with four games at Seattle starting next Thursday.
"We're trying to win the division, trying to make it to the
postseason," Giambi said. "We've got two more here, four in
Baltimore and then the big showdown in Seattle. We've really got
take care of business here and set ourselves up to make that
meaningful in Seattle."
Barry Zito (5-3), who had a complete game shutout victory over
the Devil Rays last Sunday, gave up two runs and three hits over
six innings.
"That's what every pitcher dreams about," said Zito of the big
early lead. "So even if you have an off day and you give 5 or 6,
you still have a chance to win."
Oakland has scored in double digits in all five of Zito's wins.
John Flaherty hit a two-run homer for Tampa Bay, which matched a
season-high with its sixth straight loss. The Devil Rays, who are a
season-low 25 games under .500 at 61-86, are 2-12 in September.
Flaherty's fourth inning shot ended Zito's scoreless inning
streak at 24 1/3 innings. It was the longest by an Athletics
pitcher since Rick Honeycutt had 24 2/3 consecutive scoreless
innings in 1995.
The Athletics, who took the final three games from Tampa Bay
last weekend in Oakland, have outscored the Devil Rays 43-4 in the
past four meetings.
"It has snowballed," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said.
"It's a combination of pitching, hitting and at times defense.
It's tough right now. It's frustrating."
Oakland loaded the bases on three walks by Albie Lopez (11-12)
with one out in the third. After Devil Rays pitching coach Bill
Fischer went to the mound to talk with Lopez, Giambi drove the
first pitch he faced into the right field stands for his 37th homer
of the season to put the Athletics up 4-0.
Oakland blew the game open during a five-run fourth. Giambi, who
is 7-for-12 with three homers against Lopez, had a run-scoring
single. Trevor Enders replaced Lopez and gave up a two-run double
to Ben Grieve and Matt Stairs' two-run single to make it 9-0.
Lopez, who has been bothered by a left calf strain, gave up eight runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
"Nothing is hurting," said Lopez, who has lost three straight
starts. "I just not executing the pitches like I'm supposed to
right now. Nothing was going good tonight."
Game notes
The two teams used 41 players. It was most used in a Tampa
Bay game. ... Jason Giambi, who has seven career grand slams, last
drove in seven runs on June 7 against San Diego. ... Oakland LHP
Mark Mulder will likely miss the rest of the regular season with a
herniated disc. He was hurt working out Wednesday. ... Tampa Bay 3B
Vinny Castilla, who has been on the disabled list three times this
season, has not homered in 152 at-bats dating back to a May 27
homer.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
RECAPS
Seattle 10
Baltimore 2
Boston 7
Detroit 6
Cleveland 11
NY Yankees 1
Oakland 17
Tampa Bay 3
Toronto 6
Chi. White Sox 5
Anaheim 16
Minnesota 5
Texas 12
Kansas City 11
Cincinnati 6
Milwaukee 4
Montreal 4
NY Mets 3
Philadelphia 7
Florida 4
Houston 16
Pittsburgh 7
St. Louis 3
Chicago Cubs 2
Arizona 2
Atlanta 1
San Diego 5
San Francisco 4
Los Angeles 4
Colorado 3
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