Story by
Rangers Can't Catch Rays in 7-6 Loss
- Story by
- Rangers Can't Catch Rays in 7-6 Loss
Rangers Can't Catch Rays in 7-6 Loss
(© Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images)
The Texas Rangers fell short to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, 7-6 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
With the loss, the Rangers are now 1-1 against the Rays in this four-game set. So, how did they go from a 6-0 win on Thursday to dropping Friday's game?
Advertisement
Unanswered runs
In the second inning, the Rangers drew first blood when Ezequiel Duran hit a solo home run to center field. However, the Rays took over from there.
In the top of the third, Kumar Rocker took the mound after Trevor Williams and Robby Ahlstrom got the game started. For Rocker, the outing was not good, and that is indicative of his season overall.
After getting Yandy Diaz to ground out, the second batter Rocker faced was Jonathan Aranda, who took him deep to right-center field for a solo home run. In the fourth, he gave up a solo home run to Richie Palacios.
With the Rangers down 2-1, Rocker remained on the mound, and Aranda made him pay again in the fifth inning, this time with an RBI ground-rule double that scored Diaz after the latter opened the inning with a double off Rocker.
Advertisement
Rocker gave up a third straight double, this time to Junior Caminero that made it a 4-1 game. Victor Mesa Jr. and Cedric Mullins also helped get runs across to cap off a four-run inning for the Rays.
Rocker remained on the mound for the sixth and seventh innings, and while he got out of them with relative ease, the damage had already been done. The 26-year-old was assessed the loss, dropping him to 5-11 on the season with a 4.61 ERA.
Roaring back
Though the Rangers were down, they did not let it take them out of the game.
After a scoreless sixth, Texas mounted a four-run inning of its own, which came in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a grand slam by Elias Diaz to get the Rangers within one run.
Advertisement
However, the Rays scored again in the ninth, and despite Texas' run of its own in the inning, it just could not do enough to tie or take the lead. In the end, trying to overcome six unanswered runs was too much for a team that has been mediocre all season.
The loss did not help the Rangers' postseason hopes as they remain below .500 with mere weeks remaining in the season. They will have another chance against Tampa Bay on Saturday to get ahead in the series before concluding it on Sunday.
