Rays Tie Their Franchise's Longest Losing Streak at Opposing Team's Stadium
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Globe Life Field is a house of horrors for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Entering the three-game series with a winning record, they knew they would have to buck a trend if they were going to stay above the .500 mark after their trip to face the Texas Rangers.
But that didn't happen.
The Rays lost a heartbreaker on Sunday, losing on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning after they fought back to tie things up on two separate occasions.
Tampa Bay has now lost nine straight when playing at Globe Life Field, tying the franchise's longest-ever losing streak at an opposing team's stadium -- against the Seattle Mariners from May 2016 to June 2018, per Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times.
Luckily for the Rays, they don't travel back to Arlington again this year unless the two teams matchup in the playoffs.
In baseball, sometimes teams just have another team's number, and that's certainly the case here.
While it's not been a successful voyage to face the Rangers on their home turf, things have also not gone well when the setting has shifted to Tampa Bay.
The Rays have lost 11 of their last 12 in this matchup, an eye-opening mark when taking into account the issues Texas had in 2024 with all of their injuries that caused them to miss the playoffs just one year after they won the World Series.
Maybe there isn't a ton to takeaway from this three-game set.
Tampa Bay just doesn't win against the Rangers, especially when they have to travel to Texas to face them. So anything that occurred during this weekend series can be thrown by the wayside.
The Rays better hope that's the case.
In their last four contests -- three against the Rangers and one against the Pittsburgh Pirates -- they have only scored 11 total runs and haven't held a lead at any point.
This comes after they started the season 4-1 and were atop the AL East standings at one point.
Perhaps all Tampa Bay needs is to get out of Arlington and play baseball elsewhere, something they'll have the opportunity to do on Tuesday when they begin their massive 13-game homestand.
Whether the early success the Rays had returns following their arrival back home will be seen, but they can at least rest easy knowing they won't be facing the Rangers at Globe Life Field for the rest of the regular season.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he was part of the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Upon graduation, he continued to cover Penn State athletics for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media. Brad currently covers Major League Baseball and collegiate sports for Sports Illustrated. He is also the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on X: @bwakai