The Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers were back at George M. Steinbrenner Field for game two of their three-game series.
It didn’t take the Rays long to get going as Brandon Lowe hit a solo home run, his 12th homer of the season, to give the Rays an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
It would stay 1-0 until the third, when the Rays went to work, scoring four runs. Josh Lowe doubled to start the inning. Brandon Lowe then doubled to push across run number two for the Rays as Josh Lowe scored on the play. Yandy Diaz would then single as Lowe went to third, and then a Jonathan Aranda single scored Lowe to put the Rays up 3-0. Jake Mangum reached first on an infield single, driving in two more runs to put the Rays up 5-0 after three innings.
In the fourth inning, the Rays chased Rangers starter Kumar Rocker but couldn’t score any runs, leaving two runners on base.
Shane Baz breezed through the first four innings but ran into trouble in the fifth as Jonah Heim hit his seventh home run of the season, a two-run blast to make it 5-2.
Wyatt Langford would have an RBI double to drive in another run before the Rays could get out of the inning without any more damage being done.
The Rangers chased Baz in the fifth. He finished the night giving up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts. That ended a streak of 16 scoreless innings by Rays starters.
Manny Rodriguez, Mason Montgomery, Edwin Uceta, and Pete Fairbanks allowed just one run and three hits in relief as the Rays once again stepped up to keep the Texas offense in check.
Shane Baz got the win for the Rays to go 5-3 on the season, with Pete Fairbanks getting his 11th save.
After snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Rangers, the Rays have won the last two against Texas and will go for the sweep Thursday. The Rays are now 32-28 on the season and have won 11 of their last 14. With the win, the Rays are also a season-high four games over .500 and have won nine of their last 10 at Steinbrenner Field.
The attendance was one of the lowest recorded this season at Steinbrenner Field as 8,994 showed up.
The Rays will go for the series sweep Thursday at 7:35 p.m. with Ryan Pepiot on the mound for the Rays.
Other Notes
- Outfielder Travis Jankowski was placed on waivers and chose to become a free agent.
- Shane McClanahan is back to full strength and throwing off the mound as he recovers from a triceps nerve issue suffered during spring training. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday. However, he is not expected to throw in a rehab game until late June.
- Erik Neander said the best-case scenario is for McClanahn to return in late July or early August.
- Hunter Bigge is shut down from throwing for now, so it may be a while before we see him back in Tampa.
- Ha Seong Kim continues his rehab from off-season shoulder surgery. In his first rehab assignment, he went 2/16 and played second base. He is scheduled to play shortstop this week.
- Johnny DeLuca has been shut down from baseball activities for two weeks. He had a setback as he continues to recover from a right shoulder strain.