Nathan Eovaldi made his return to a Major League mound worth the Rays' wait.
In his first start since August of 2016, Eovaldi threw six no-hit innings, finishing with a combined one-hitter in shutting out the Oakland Athletics 6-0 Wednesday at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
Tampa Bay struck in the second inning against Oakland starter Sean Manaea, as Carlos Gomez tripled with one out and scored on a double by Johnny Field.
Manaea's troubles continued in the third, as he hit C.J. Cron to begin the inning, then gave up a base hit to Wilson Ramos before Rob Refsnyder unloaded on an offering for a three-run homer, his second home run of the year, for a 4-0 advantage.
The game remained 4-0 until the eighth, when Field blasted his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot off reliever Danny Coulomb. Daniel Robertson reached with two out on a base hit, moved from first to third on a pair of wild pitches, and scored on a double by Cron.
Eovaldi (1-0) allowed just a first-inning walk to Matt Chapman, retiring 18 of the 19 hitters he faced, including the last 17 consecutively.
Oakland finally ended the no-hit bid with one out in the seventh, as Jed Lowrie singled off reliever Wilmer Font with one out in the seventh. Font finished the inning, and worked a perfect eighth inning in his first appearance with the Rays, and Vidal Nuno worked around a leadoff walk to Chad Pinder to preserve the one-hit shutout.
THURSDAY'S MATCHUP
Tampa Bay Rays (2X-2X) at Oakland Athletics (2X-2X), 3:35 p.m. first pitch, with coverage beginning at 3:00.
Rays starter - RHP Ryne Stanek (1-0, 3.24 ERA)
Athletics starter - RHP Daniel Mengden (5-4, 2.85 ERA)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday - Rays at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 p.m. first pitch
Saturday - Rays at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 p.m. first pitch
Sunday - Rays at Seattle Mariners, 4:10 p.m. first pitch