The Texas Rangers found a way to claw back into Thursday night’s game, but the finish looked a lot like too many of their recent losses: a late mistake, a missed chance, and another defeat on the board. Texas scored three runs, yet the Tampa Bay Rays answered with six in 10 innings and walked away with a 6-3 win.
It started with the familiar early punch against Jacob deGrom, who served up a first-inning home run. The Rangers never looked especially dangerous at the plate from there, and after Tampa Bay added a second solo shot, Texas finally got one of its own to trim the gap back to a run.
For a while, it seemed as if the script might repeat itself. The Rays tacked on a late insurance run, and the Rangers answered with the run that would have tied the game if they had managed to keep Tampa Bay off the board. The difference this time was that Texas eventually got even before it ever had a chance to bat with runners in scoring position.
That rally began when Evan Carter led off the eighth with a solo home run, pulling the Rangers within one. Danny Jansen followed with a single, and Cam Cauley came on as a pinch runner. Justin Foscue then ripped a double, sending Cauley racing all the way from first to score the tying run.
With Foscue aboard as the first Ranger in scoring position, the matchup the Rangers wanted was right in front of them: Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford coming up with a chance to put Texas ahead. Neither delivered. Both grounded out, and the inning slipped away without the lead changing hands.
Jacob Latz gave the Rangers a chance to keep pressing. He worked a scoreless ninth in a tied game on just nine pitches, which also left him available for the 10th after Texas came up empty in the bottom of the ninth.
That extra inning turned fast. After the Rays moved their Manfred man to third on a sacrifice bunt, Texas intentionally walked Yandy Diaz to set up a possible double play. Instead, Jonathan Aranda turned on a two-strike slider in the low quadrant and sent it 409 feet for a three-run home run.
Texas never answered. The Rangers failed to score their free runner, finished 0-5 with runners in scoring position, and dropped to three games below .500.
Player of the Game: Evan Carter, whose eighth-inning solo homer left him one away from double digits on the season.
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