My Two Cents: Years Later, Rays Still Can't Figure Out How to Beat Rangers

There were two quick outs in the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays were hoping to force extra innings on Sunday against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas. But then, just like that, it was over.

Josh Smith doubled and then two pitches later, catcher Jonah Heim singled to center, scoring Smith. The Rangers walked off with a 4-3 win, sweeping the series against the Rays, which is becoming the norm.

That's nine straight losses in Texas to the Rangers, a team the Rays just can't beat right now. It's been a while at Globe Life.

Here's how bad this is:

April 6, 2025: Rangers 4, Rays 3
April 5, 2025: Rangers 6, Rays 4
April 4, 2025: Rangers 5, Rays 2

July 7, 2024: Rangers 13, Rays 2
July 6, 2024: Rangers 4, Rays 3
July 5, 2024: Rangers 3, Rays 0

July 19, 2023: Rangers 5, Rays 1
July 18, 2023: Rangers 5, Rays 3
July 17, 2023: Rangers 3, Rays 2

The last time the Rays won in Arlington was June 2, 2022. They won 3-1 that day, and used 16 players. Only one — Yandy Diaz — is still with the team today. The nine-game losing streak at Globe Life is the longest one at any venue in team history, tied with the a similar streak in Seattle from 2016 to 2018. They Rays' .273 winning percentage i(6-16) at that ballpark is also their worst-ever at any stadium. They also lost the 2020 World Series thare to the Los Angelesw Dodgers during the COVID year.

“It's frustrating. We've got to find a way to pull out a win here,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “Not scoring enough runs, not doing things on defense that we need to do -- it resulted in a good team taking advantage of us.”

The Rangers are a good team — and the Rays know it the hard way. Tampa Bay's last postseason experience was also an embarrassing beatdown by the Rangers in the 2023 playoffs. After winning 99 games that year — second-best in the American League to the 101-win Baltimore Orioles — the Rangers came to Tropicana Field and beat the Rays 4-0 and 7-1 in two very uncompetitive games.

This happens sometimes, when a team runs into a bad matchup. That's certainly the case with the Rays and Rangers right now. Tampa Bay even lost two of three at the Trop last year. That playoff loss was rough, too, because it come on the heels of a 2022 playoff disaster, where they were swept in Cleveland in a two-game series where the Rays scored one run in 24 innings.

The Rangers were on a roll there in 2023. They beat the Rays in the fwild-card round, and then swept the Orioles in the American League Division Series. The came back from down 3-2 in the ALCS, but won the final two games to knock out in-state rival Houston. They won their first-ever World Series in five games over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It's probably good this series in Arlington happened so early, because now it's over and the Rays can move on. They come right back home in their front-loaded schedule, getting ready for a 13-game homestand that stars Tuesday at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. They'll see the Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox before a four-game series April 17-20 against the New York Yankees, which will be weird seieing the Yankees as the visitors in their own spring training home.

Being back home will be good. They started the season there 4-1 before getting throttled by ace Paul Skenes in a 4-2 loss last Wednesday afternoon. The Rays never led that day, and they also never led even one inning in Arlington. They are on a four-game skid now, and it hurts.

“I think we've kind of jokingly talked about this building and our lack of success over the past couple of years, but it's frustrating,” Rays starter Drew Rasmussen told mlb.com after the game. “Our offense, they continue to battle, they continue to fight, they continue to score runs in big moments. And it would have been really nice to get one of these two, that's for sure.”

The Rays got terrific pitching the first time through the rotation, posting a 4-1 mark with an impressive 1.24 ERA for the five starters who had 36 strikeouts with just one walk.

This next go-round hasn't been as good. Ryan Pepiot lost the showdown with Skenes and then Zach Littell gave run four runs in the third inning Friday and Taj Bradley was tagged with a four-spot in the first inning on Saturday.

Rasmussen was good Sunday, allowing just one run and three hits in five innings, and the Rays scored twice in the eighth inning to tie the game at 3-3. But then they let it slip away in the ninth, falling to 4-5 on the year.

They'll see the Rangers June 3-5 in Tampa, and hopefully they have different results then. This might have been more about timing. Texas is 8-2 already — their best start since 2012 — and has the best record in the American League. They also have lowest team ERA (2.93). They've been tough on everyone — not just the Rays.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this staff. Everybody, from the rotation to the bullpen,'' Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "We're playing really well in these close games, and doing a lot of the little things well. It seems like it's somebody different every day, and that's how this works.

“We’re not scoring a lot of runs, but we’re pitching, playing very well on defense, and running the bases well. We're just doing a lot of little things well right now.”

The Rays had to suffer for that this weekend. But it's also a great lesson to be learned. The Rays need to start doing some of that themselves. Some timely hitting would do them some good, too.

Starting Tuesday.

Tom Brew is a national baseball columnist for ''Fastball on SI,'' with a focus on the American League East and Natiional League East. You can follow him on Twitter (X) @tombrewsports

Read our other 'Fastball on SI' columns

JACK ANKONY COLUMN: ''Fastball on SI'' national columnist Jack Ankony says Kyle Tucker is the star player the Chicago Cubs have needed, and he’s worth the hefty contract it will take to keep him on the north side. CLICK HERE

BRADY FARKAS COLUMN: Through eight games, this much is clear for the Seattle Mariners: The mid-range of the bullpen is not good enough, and they need Matt Brash and Troy Taylor back. CLICK HERE

PAYOFF PITCH PODCAST (Vol. 2): After the first week of the 2025 MLB season, "On SI" baseball writers Tom Brew, Brady Farkas, Jack Ankony and Brandon Brown met for another episode of the Payoff Pitch Podcast to discuss the Dodgers' 8-0 start, the Braves' 0-7 record, Garrett Crochet's extension, Kyle Tucker's future, torpedo bats and more news around the league. CLICK HERE