TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Shea Langeliers provided a big lift for the Athletics in his return from an injury.
Langeliers hit a three-run homer on Monday night, sending the A's to over the Tampa Bay Rays in the catcher's first big league game since he was sidelined by a strained left oblique.
Langeliers was reinstated from the 10-day injured list. He got hurt when he fouled off a pitch from Minnesota’s Kody Funderburk on June 5.
He connected with two outs in the first inning in the opener of a three-game series at the Rays, driving a 96 mph sinker from Drew Rasmussen deep to left-center.
Langeliers' had an exit velocity of 111.1 mph and traveled 408 feet.
The A's also brought up right-hander Justin Sterner and outfielder Colby Thomas from Triple-A Las Vegas. Outfielder JJ Bleday, catcher and right-hander Tyler Ferguson were sent down.
Thomas, a third-round pick in the 2022 amateur draft, made his major league debut when he popped out as a pinch hitter in the eighth. He stayed in the game in left field and made a huge defensive play in the bottom half.
The game was tied at 4 when Thomas Brandon Lowe at the plate when he attempted to score from second on Josh Lowe's single.
The 27-year-old Langeliers went 8 for 13 with a homer and four RBIs in three rehab games with Las Vegas before returning to the A's.
Langeliers was a first-round pick in the 2019 amateur draft. He is batting .237 with 30 RBIs in 57 games this year.
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The Associated Press
