Rangers Get to Rays Early, Win 8-4 to Even Series
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Texas Rangers took a punch Friday. And on Saturday, they punched back, scoring eight runs and knocking off the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 to even their heavyweight series at a game a piece at Tropicana Field.
With the win, fueled by shortstop Corey Seager's first-ever five-hit game and four RBIs, the Rangers are now 41-22. Only the Rays, who are now 47-20, have more wins. They break the series tie on Sunday when aces Martin Perez and Shane McClanahan square off in a 1:40 p.m. ET game. Tampa Bay won the opener 8-3 on Friday night, so this one was big for the Rangers.
''This was a big game,'' Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "You lose the first one, you've lost two in a row and the bats were kind of quiet. So this was a big win for us. They're a great ballclub first of all, and they're just clicking everywhere. What they're doing at home is incredible, so when you can get a win here, you take it.
"These guys, they don't let a game or two phase them. We've got a lot of professionals in there, and they come out every day and compete. They know they're facing a very good team, and this was one we needed to get.''
Tampa Bay starter Taj Bradley didn't make it out of the fourth inning, giving up five runs, four of them earned. Some of his problems were self-induced — he gave up four walks — but his defense let him down, too.
The second inning was a problem, all the way around. Bradley walked catcher Jonah Heim to start the inning, and then Travis Jankowski hit a double-play ground ball to Tampa Bay second baseman Vidal Brujan, but his throw was very wide and rolled all the way to the wall behind third base, with Heim scoring. He walked Leody Taveras and then Marcus Semien singled to right to load the bases.
Corey Seager then doubled to right to score two runs, with Semien getting thrown out at home to leave the score at 3-0.
"The bats woke up and it was a great job by Corey,'' Bochy said of his shortstop. "You're talking about an elite hitter with such a great swing. They kept bringing in lefties and he kept getting hits. I was surprised that was the first five-hit game he's had. He's such a good hitter, I'm surprised he hadn't done that before.
"That's what we've been doing. These guys have done a great job getting big hits with runners in scoring position, so it was great to see your break out a little bit today.''
Texas scored three more in the fourth inning. Bradley walked the lead-off hitter (Jankowski) again, and then Ezequiel Duran doubled to left. Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena was a little slow to get to the ball and Jankowski scored from first to make it 4-0. Bradley got the next two outs, but Rays manager Kevin Cash went to the bullpen anyway, bringing in left-hander Jalen Beeks. Seager promptly his Beeks' first pitch into the right field seats to make it 6-0.
Tampa Bay got right back into the game in the bottom of the inning, scoring four times. The big blast came from catcher Francisco Mejia, who hit a three-run homer down the right field line off of Nathan Eovaldi to make it 6-4.
Texas added two more in the sixth, taking advantage of Rays rookie Jose Lopez, who was making his major-league debut. He came in with two outs and a man on first, but his nerves were clearly in play, and he struggled to find the strike zone. Seager singled after getting ahead 2-0 in the count, and then Lopez walked Nathaniel Lowe on four pitches to load the bases. Adolis Garcia followed with a screamer down the left field line for a ground rule double, pushing the Rangers' lead to 8-4.
Lopez, who was added to the roster on Sunday mornnig, did settle down after that, getting six straight outs before giving way to Jake Diekman in the eighth.
The Rays had a threat in the seventh, but Isaac Paredes — the star of Friday night's game with two home runs and a career high six RBIs, grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Eovaldi picked up the win to raise his record to 9-2. Bradley took the loss and is 4-3.
Paredes was 0-for-4 Saturday, striking out twice, including once in the fifth inning with two men on and two outs. He left six men on base.
"It was more about executing pitches today. We did that. Yesterday we didn't,'' Bochy said. "I thought our pitching was good today. They got Nate with that one (Mejia homer), but we made a lot of good pitches otherwise. Even after the home run, he really dug in and got through the fifth and sixth. We couldn't get to that pop up in the seventh, and his pitch count was getting up there, but (Josh) Sborz came in and threw the ball well.''
This was the first game that brothers Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Lowe played against each other. Nathaniel started at first base and batted third for Texas, with two walks and three strikeouts. Josh, who didn't play Friday night, started in right field for Tampa Bay and hit third. He was 2-for-4 with a double.
A pair of standout left-handers will start Sunday's game with Shane McClanahan going for Tampa Bay and Martin Perez pitching for the Rangers.
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