Rangers Fall, Rays Split Series

Texas drops last two games of a four-game series with Tampa Bay

The Texas Rangers thought they might have turned a corner after getting to .500 after Tuesday’s win over Tampa Bay.

Turns out the corner is putting up a fight.

The Rangers lost their second straight game on Thursday, a 3-1 defeat to Tampa Bay that meant the Rangers (24-26) not only slipped back to two games under .500 after 50 games, but missed out on a chance to win seven of nine games for the first time since late last season.

Have the Rangers cooled off, or are they simply a slightly under-.500 team that is making progress from last year’s 60-102 campaign?

The Rangers had a quick turnaround from Wednesday night’s 11-inning loss to Tampa Bay, as Thursday’s game was an afternoon getaway game for the Rays before the Mariners come to Arlington for a three-game set starting Friday.

“You lose a game like (Wednesday), when you have it won in the late innings, the carryover for that into a day game … It could have been a sweep for us or a split for them, and it ended up being a split for them," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. 

Texas, down 3-0 early, scored a run in the sixth and then stranded two runners in both the seventh and eighth against the Rays bullpen.

Jonah Heim and Adolis García each had two hits for the Rangers, but neither drove in a run. The Rangers stranded six runners for the game and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

“They (the Rays) match up well,” Woodward said. “You know what you’re going to get and they’re tough to hit. I look at our plan. Are we being in the moment, not making it too big? Are we following through on our plan? It’s when we chase pitches, that’s when we have to figure things out. Our at-bats toward the end of the game weren’t that bad. We just didn’t square up enough.”

The Rays jumped on starter Taylor Hearn (3-4), who was coming off his first start of six innings or more this season last weekend in Oakland. The good vibrations from that outing — he allowed three runs — didn't last, as he gave up a run in the first inning, two runs in the second inning and left after four innings.

Hearn threw 89 pitchers, giving up six hits and three runs, while walking four and striking out three to see his earned run average go up to 5.48.

Both Woodward and Hearn admitted after the game that he was under the weather. Hearn said that he started feeling symptoms Thursday morning and he spoke with a scratch in his voice, but didn't make excuses for his performance. 

The Rays’ Francisco Mejía led off the second inning with a double, advancing to third on an Isaac Paredes groundout. He scored on Vidal Bruján’s ground-rule double with two outs.

In the third, Hearn was a bit lucky to escape only giving up two runs. He issued a one-out walk to Manuel Margot, who advanced to third on a single to center. Yandy Díaz drove in Margot to put the Rays up 2-0. After Mejía walked to load the bases, Hearn walked Paredes, which scored Ramirez from third. But the Rays could do no more, as Mike Zunion flew out to right and Bruján flew out to center to end the inning.

The Rangers struggled to get much going against Rays starter Corey Kluber, who pitched one inning for the Rangers in 2020 before a shoulder injury ended his season. He gave up one run in the bottom of the sixth, as Marcus Semien hit his second home run of the season with two outs and no one on.

Kluber (2-2) left having given up four hits and having struck out four Rangers without giving up a walk.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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