Rays Athletics Baseball

Taylor Walls homered from both sides of the plate for the second time in his career, Nick Martinez tossed a complete game and the Tampa Bay Rays won their eighth straight game, 12-4 over the Athletics on Tuesday night. The 30-year-old Walls, whose homers were his first of the season, went 4 for 5 in his second two-homer game. He last went deep as a righty and lefty on April 18, 2023, against the Cincinnati Reds. Walls is the fifth player this season to homer from both sides of the plate, joining the White Sox’s Drew Romo, Colorado’s Willi Castro, Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds, and Minnesota’s Josh Bell. Martinez (12-3) struck out five, and allowed four runs on eight hits with a 101-pitch effort for his second career complete game.

Taylor Walls homered from each side of the plate in a 12-4 victory at the Athletics on Tuesday night, becoming the first switch-hitter to do that twice for the AL-leading Tampa Bay Rays. Walls also accomplished the feat on April 18, 2023, at Cincinnati. The 30-year-old shortstop hit his first homer Tuesday left-handed in the fourth inning off Athletics starter Mason Barnett. Walls went deep as a right-handed hitter off reliever Brady Basso in the sixth, helping Tampa Bay win its eighth straight game.