Decisions can change everything, and the Rangers found that out the hard way in the 10th inning at Globe Life Field.
With the game tied and the Rays looking for a big swing, Texas chose to intentionally walk Yandy Diaz to get to Jonathan Aranda. Aranda answered with a three-run homer to right-center, and Tampa Bay left with a 6-3 win on Saturday night.
The finish capped a game the Rays had controlled in stretches but never quite put away. They led three separate times, got seven strong innings from Drew Rasmussen, and still had to survive a late Texas push before Aranda delivered the knockout.
Junior Caminero gave Tampa Bay the first punch. After Jacob deGrom retired the first two Rays hitters in the opening inning, Caminero jumped on a pitch and drove his 38th home run over the center-field wall for a quick 1-0 lead.
From there, Rasmussen settled in and kept Texas from finding much rhythm. He struck out Joc Pederson and Corey Seager in the first, then rolled through the second and third with a clean run of outs. The Rangers did manage a few sharp defensive moments to stay close, including Ezequiel Duran’s diving stop on Chandler Simpson in the second and Evan Carter’s throw to cut down Victor Mesa Jr. when he tried to turn a single into a double.
Seager finally snapped Rasmussen’s streak of 10 straight outs with a one-out single in the fourth, but the Rays kept the inning from turning. Victor Mesa Jr. ran down Wyatt Langford’s line drive in right, and Brandon Nimmo followed by grounding out to end the frame.
Tampa Bay added to the lead in the fifth. With two outs, Richie Palacios lifted a deGrom pitch over the right-field wall for his eighth homer of the season and made it 2-0.
Texas answered in the sixth when Joc Pederson hit a solo homer, but Rasmussen shut the door on the inning by striking out Seager and Langford. He then finished his night by retiring the side in order in the seventh. His line was clean: three hits, no walks and seven strikeouts.
The Rays had chances to separate a little more from deGrom and the Rangers. In the seventh, Victor Mesa Jr. and Cedric Mullins singled with two outs and then pulled off a double steal to get into scoring position. Ryan Vilade then entered as a pinch hitter for Palacios, but Tampa Bay did not cash in there.
They did tack on a run in the eighth. Aranda singled to left with two outs, Caminero followed with a single to right that moved Aranda to third, and Liam Hicks came through with a single to give the Rays a 3-1 cushion.
That lead disappeared fast.
Carter opened the bottom of the eighth by taking Kevin Kelly deep for a leadoff homer. Danny Jansen added a single, Kevin Cash went to Cam Booser, and then Justin Foscus doubled to center to bring in pinch-runner Cam Cauley and tie the game. Booser kept Foscue at third, and Tyler Wells worked around a Walls error in the ninth to force extras.
Then came the 10th-inning gamble from Texas, and the swing that ended it.
Jorge Mateo was bunted to third by Walls to open the inning, the Rangers intentionally walked Diaz, and Aranda made them pay with his 19th homer of the season. That blast put Tampa Bay ahead 6-3, and Wells finished it off by striking out Cody Freeman and Elias Diaz before getting Foscue to ground out.
The Rays picked up their second straight win and their first season-series victory over the Rangers since 2022.
These teams wrap up the series Sunday with first pitch set for 2:35 PM ET.
In Other News...
Rays Suddenly Face Bigger Bullpen Concern With Garrett Cleavinger
The Rays made another bullpen adjustment after placing left-hander Garrett Cleavinger on the 15-day injured list with left forearm tightness, a move that comes on the heels of a rough outing and leaves Tampa Bay with a more immediate question in the late innings. To cover the roster opening, right-hander Ty Johnson was called up from Triple-A Durham, while infielder Oliver Dunn was designated for assignment.
Cleavingers absence matters because he had become one of the left-handed options the Rays could lean on in a relief mix that rarely gets much breathing room. The forearm issue adds another layer of concern, and it now puts his availability for the rest of the season in doubt as Tampa Bay tries to stabilize a bullpen that has already had to absorb plenty of shuffling. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Fans Got An Unsettling Scare With Bryan Baker Late
A late-night scare for the Rays came when Bryan Baker, who has quickly become one of the most important arms at the back end of the bullpen, exited during a game against the Rangers after walking two batters and showing a noticeable drop in velocity. For a team leaning hard on its closer, any sign of physical trouble in that spot is going to grab attention fast, especially with the game still hanging in the balance.
Tyler Wells stepped in and finished the job, locking down the save as Tampa Bay held on for the win. Afterward, Baker pointed to dehydration as the reason for the brief departure and said he did not expect the issue to linger, which should ease some of the immediate concern even if it left plenty of Rays fans uneasy in the moment. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Deadline Move Is Suddenly Looking Huge In AL East Race
The Rays are already in the playoffs, but the bigger prize still sits in front of them as the AL East race tightens. A lot of their deadline attention centered on depth and fit, and one of the quiet developments has been the addition of catcher Liam Hicks, who has given the lineup a noticeable lift since arriving in Tampa Bay. With the division still in play, those kinds of midseason moves can end up mattering just as much as the headline-grabbing ones.
Freddy Peraltas recent run on the mound has only added to the feeling that Tampa Bay is peaking at the right time. The Rays have needed both sides of the roster to come together late, and the combination of steadier pitching and timely offense has put them in position to keep pushing for the division title. What looked like a standard deadline reset is starting to look like one of the moves that could define their finish. [Read more 🡒]