Three Takeaways as Rays Reel from Sweep at Hands of Texas Rangers

The Tampa Bay Rays have a day off as they try to sort through losing all three games to the Texas Rangers this weekend.

Apr 6, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Garrett Cleavinger (60) throws a pitch in the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays returned home on Sunday from Arlington, Texas, after being swept by the Texas Rangers.

The Rays (4-5) fell in the first game, 5-2, the second game, 6-4, and the final game, 4-3, the last of which the Rangers (8-2) won in walk-off fashion.

Now, the Rays have Monday off before they start a massive 13-day, 13-game homestand at their temporary home in Tampa.

Here are three takeaways from the series.

Get Away from Texas

The Tampa Bay Rays had a chance to win all three games against the Rangers. But, perhaps they had no chance at all.

The Rays’ history against Texas lately had been bad. Just bad. With Sunday’s loss, the Rays have lost seven straight games to the Rangers, along with 11 of their last 12, dating back to July 17, 2023.

Tampa Bay is also not a big fan of Globe Life Field, the Rangers’ home since 2020. The Rays played the Los Angeles Dodgers there in the 2020 World Series. Including that series, Tampa Bay is 6-16 at GLF and has lost its last nine games there. Right now, it’s the Rays’ lowest winning percentage at any MLB stadium in franchise history.

The two teams will meet again at Steinbrenner Field on June 3-5. Maybe, of all things, the New York Yankees’ Class-A minor league stadium can break the bad mojo.

High-Leverage Failures

The Rays had chances to win all three games, but Saturday’s and Sunday’s losses were especially jarring as the bullpen failed in both cases.

On Saturday, it was Mason Montgomery, the young lefty who has enjoyed a good start to his season. He entered a tie game in the eighth inning and gave up two hits and two runs, including a two-run home run to the Rangers’ Wyatt Langford.

On Sunday, it was right-hander Edwin Uceta, who took over in the ninth inning and recorded the first two outs before he gave up a double to Josh Smith and an RBI single to Jonah Heim.

Distilling those two losses to those two pitchers doesn’t do the flow of either game justice. But, the Rays needed those relievers to come through and they were unable to do so.

Trust in Lowe

Brandon Lowe reached No. 3 on the Rays’ all-time home run list during the series. He’s carving out a place as, perhaps, the franchise’s best all-time second baseman.

For right now, he appears poised to put together a season that is somewhere in between his career high 2021, during which he hit 39 home runs, and his last two seasons, during which he hit 21 home runs each season.

So far, he’s slashed .306/.342/.898 with three home runs and eight RBI. He’s also scored five runs.

He’s the perfect No. 2 hitter for this offense. He has the right mix of on-base ability, power and timely hitting, a combination that can fuel the Rays to some wins during this massive 13-game homestand at Steinbrenner Field.

If the Rays are to reach the playoffs, Lowe must be a fundamental part of that drive.