Rangers Fall Behind Early, Can't Rally vs. Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays bounced back by cashing in on the previous few opportunities it got in a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night at Tropicana Field.

The Rays (81-64) finished the game with just seven hits, but the Rays turned those hits into runs throughout the game, getting to Rangers starter Jon Gray (7-7) making his second start since returning from the injured list on Monday.

The Rangers were coming off a one-run victory over Tampa Bay to open the series on Friday.

While the Rays got a solo home run from Taylor Walls — off Rangers reliever Taylor Hearn — and a 2 RBI double from Isaac Paredes, they also scored runs with some good old-fashioned station-to-station baseball. David Peralta’s sacrifice fly scored the game’s first run, while Wander Franco’s sacrifice fly gave the Rays a 2-0 lead.

The Peralta and Franco sacrifices were enough to put Gray and the Rangers (63-83) in a bind, even though Gray went 4 1/3 innings and gave up just two hits. He walked one and struck four. He was on a pitch count again and gave way to Hearn in the fifth. He gave up two runs in 2 1/3 innings, while Dennis Santana gave up the Rays’ last run.

More curious was the fact that the Rangers generated so little offense in what amounted to a bullpen game for the Rays. Armstrong made just his fourth start (he’s made 46 appearances this season) and went 1 2/3 innings, giving up one hit and striking out three before yielding to Ryan Yarbrough (2-8), who entered the game with a 1-8 record but had made 19 starts. He worked three innings and gave up the Rangers’ only run, a solo home run by catcher Jonah Heim in the fourth inning.

From there, the Tampa Bay bullpen locked the Rangers down. Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe had two hits each, with Lowe continuing his assault on finishing the season with a .300 batting average. He finished with a .310 batting average after Saturday’s game, and he was fifth in the American League going into the game. Minnesota’s Luis Arraez led at .319.

The Rangers wrap up the series on Sunday with Glenn Otto (6-8, 4.71) on the hill.

The Rangers also announced on Friday the prospects they would be sending to the Arizona Fall League.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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