Right-hander Andy Sonnastine seemed surprised to hear he was going into Wednesday's game as not only one of the American League's top winners at 6-1, but the third-winningest pitcher in the majors since Aug. 15 with 11 victories.

Wednesday's performance was a reminder of the work the 25-year-old still has to do.

Though Sonnanstine started strong, retiring the first eight, he was not consistent with his location or his stuff, and he paid the price in a 9-1 loss to Oakland. By the end of six rough innings, Sonnanstine had allowed a career-high-matching seven runs on nine hits, including two homers and three doubles.

"I wouldn't say it was any one thing," Sonnanstine said. "That's a tough one to swallow. The first couple innings I felt really good, best I felt in a while. Maybe in the later innings I was overthrowing or something.

"I threw some good pitches and they hit them, and I threw some bad pitches and they hit them."

Manager Joe Maddon said it wasn't as bad as it looked.

"I thought Sonny had really good stuff today," Maddon said. "He did. He was throwing the ball well."

A'S 9, RAYS 1: Facing a dominating performance by A's lefty Dana Eveland and two homers by Jack Cust, the Rays finished their week-long road trip with a 3-3 record. With starters Carl Crawford and Dioner Navarro resting, Tampa Baydidn't do much offensively, getting just three hits.

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