Rangers Bats Come Alive, Snap Four-Game Skid With 8-3 Win Over Rays
The Texas Rangers (4-7) and their offense awoke from a slumber on Tuesday night, snapping a four-game losing skid with an 8-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays (5-6).
It didn't take long for the Rangers to get going after being shutout for 22 consecutive innings. Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off the game with a single and advanced to second base on a balk. After David Dahl moved him over to third base on a groundout, Joey Gallo lined a single into right field to drive in Kiner-Falefa.
Kyle Gibson (2-0, 4.05 ERA) followed a great start against Toronto with another great outing. But the story of the night was the offense. The Texas lineup racked up 13 total hits and, more importantly, overcame early adversity.
The Rangers were immediately put back on their heels when the Rays answered with two runs in the bottom half of the first inning. The Rangers nearly got out of the inning tied 1-1, but a bad hop off the fringe of the infield and outfield handcuffed Nick Solak, allowing the go-ahead run to score for Tampa Bay.
"This game is amazing," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "When things aren't going well, if you give in a little bit to the game and start pressing and stressing, the game is going to keep pushing. The game is going to hit you hard. I think that was probably the moment where he had to let go."
Rangers hitters weren't about to let a bit of bad luck keep them from building off of a good first inning. When they generated the next scoring opportunity, they didn't waste it.
Three consecutive singles by Jose Trevino, Nate Lowe, and Adolis García loaded the bases to lead off the fourth inning, setting the stage for Solak to come through. He overcame his first inning error and broke the dam with a bases-clearing double, giving Texas a 4-2 lead.
"It feels good to come out and win," Solak said. "We'd been battling and coming up on losing ends. It's always great to come out and get a win behind a great start and pitching throughout and a good offensive day for the whole lineup."
Charlie Culberson followed Solak's double with an RBI double of his own to extend the lead before handing the ball back to starter Kyle Gibson. After Kiner-Falefa added a sixth run with an RBI single in the sixth inning, Culberson struck with a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.
While the bats were the story of the night, Gibson put a rough first inning behind him, following with six scoreless innings. He continued a marvelous streak of Rangers pitching, where Texas starters lead the American League in ERA over the past six games.
Gibson lived up to his M.O., getting a lot of quick outs on ground balls. He threw 86 pitches over seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Brett Martin worked through the eighth inning, allowing a run to score just ahead of a throw from Joey Gallo. Kolby Allard closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning, striking out the side. That lights out inning earned Allard the post-win cowboy hat.
The Rangers will send out Kohei Arihara for the third game of the series on Wednesday night, as he seeks his first big league win against Tampa Bay southpaw Josh Fleming. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. CT.
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Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for SI's InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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