The American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays (85-58) concluded their four-game series against the Texas Rangers (71-73) on Sept. 6 with an 8-6 loss at Globe Life Field. Sporting a 4-1 lead by the end of the second, the Rays failed to stave off the Rangers lineup from storming back to a 7-5 lead after the fifth.
Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson got the ball rolling with a single to left. No other major leaguer this season hits more singles than Simpson (135). He also currently has the highest percentage of hits for singles (87.1) in a season since 2010.
Consecutive hits from outfielder Johnny Deluca, shortstop Jorge Mateo and outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. brought Simpson around the bases to get the Rays on the board. Three more hits from catcher Nick Fortes (sacrifice bunt), designated hitter Yandy Diaz (single), and first baseman Jonathan Aranda (sacrifice fly) kept the Rays running to a blistering 4-0 start.
The Rays batted around the order for the 20th time this season before Simpson hit a ground ball that got second baseman Ryan Vilade thrown out at second. Despite the early lead, the Rays leaving the half-inning with the bases loaded proved to be detrimental.
First baseman Jake Burger responded during the first at-bat of the inning’s other half with a 402-foot homer on a full count. The score was stagnant until a sacrifice fly from Rays third baseman Junior Caminero extended the lead to 5-1 in the fourth.
That lead evaporated by the end of the fourth, as the Rangers tied the game runs following a two-run homer from Burger and double RBI from second baseman Justin Foscue.
The flurry of runs prompted Rays manager Kevin Cash to pull starting pitcher Ian Seymour in favor of Steven Matz entering the fifth, but two earned runs from Matz convinced Cash to start the sixth with Casey Legumina on the mound. Legumina stopped the bleeding by allowing zero hits in his solo inning.
Another single and stolen base from Simpson in the seventh put the speedster in position to reach home from a DeLuca RBI single to center field. Cash swapped out Legumina for Ty Johnson, who was called up from the Tripe-A Durham Bulls on Sept. 5. Johnson pitched a hitless seventh inning to keep the score at 7-6 in his major league debut.
The 8-6 final score was decided by Rangers shortstop Corey Seager’s homer in the eighth.
The Rays remain four games ahead of the Yankees in the American League, and will begin their next series against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 8 at 7:15 p.m.