Rangers Surge to .500 With Victory Over Tampa Bay

Texas gets another gem from Martin Pérez, hits two home runs and handles the Rays for its sixth straight win at home

The Texas Rangers finished their magnificent May with a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field.

The Rangers, after a 7-14 April, finished off May with a 17-10 record, which is the third-best month of any team in the American League. With the victory, the Rangers moved to .500 (24-24), which is the latest in the season they've been .500 since they were 74-74 on Sept. 12, 2019.

"When we get over .500 I think that will be a weight off," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "Now you have to sustain it. If you have to walk before you run, then we started the season scooting or crawling. Now we're building into a walk and hopefully we can get into a sprint."

The Rangers also won their sixth straight game at home -- a franchise record at Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020.

Rangers starting pitcher Martin Pérez (4-2) pitched another gem, despite taking a ground ball of his shin in the second inning. After that Pérez didn't allow another baserunner.

“It got me on the leg and I think it put me on a different mode,” Pérez said. “It was my time to show up and do it for the guys.”

Once again, the Rangers had a power surge early in the game, with two home runs in a three-run fourth inning off Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough, who lasted nearly seven innings. Aside from the fourth, Yarbrough (0-2) pitched well, giving up six hits and striking out three.

Corey Seager led off the inning with his 11th home run this season, a shot to center field that gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Mitch Garver followed that with a double to left field, one that hit the base of the wall and escaped the grasp of Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena.

After Kole Calhoun flew out to Taylor Walls at shortstop, Adolis García launched a home run 440 feet to score Garver and give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.

Garcia finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Eli White went 2-for-3, a night after his spectacular catch in left field that robbed the Rays of a three-run home run.

That was more than enough backup for Pérez, who dropped his American League-leading earned run average to 1.42. He threw seven innings, giving up three hits and striking out five.

In the second inning, Pérez took a comebacker from Walls in the shin, which caused a delay for a few minutes. Once Pérez was ready to pitch, he set down the next 16 Rays he faced before he gave way to the Rangers’ bullpen. John King worked a scoreless eighth and Joe Barlow worked the ninth for his ninth save.

Rangers pitching didn't allow a base runner after the second inning.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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