Alex Cobb pitches four-hitter, surging Rays beat Athletics
Tampa Bay Rays' Matt Joyce, right, gets a high-five from on-deck batter Ben Zobrist after scoring on a fifth-inning single by Evan Longoria off Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Tyson Ross. (Aug. 23, 2012) Credit: AP
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Alex Cobb pitched a four-hitter for his first major league shutout and the surging Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 5-0 on Thursday night to pull within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Yankees in the AL East.
Matt Joyce hit a two-run double in a five-run fifth inning against Tyson Ross, hastily called up from the minors to pitch in place of suspended Oakland starter Bartolo Colon.
Cobb (8-8) struck out eight and walked two in his second career complete game, both this season. He bounced back from a poor outing against the Los Angeles Angels to win for the fourth time in five starts.
It was the 14th win in 17 games for the Rays and their seventh shutout since July 19. They have pitched 13 shutouts in all this season, second-most in the majors behind the Angels (15).
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