TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit a solo home run in the first inning and added an RBI double to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Wednesday night.
Josh Lowe and Brandon Lowe hit back-to-back doubles and Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda followed with consecutive singles before Jake Magnum’s two-run single with two out capped Tampa Bay’s four-run third inning and made it 5-0.
Shane Baz (5-3) gave up three runs in five innings and Pete Fairbanks pitched a one-run ninth for his 11th save of the season.
Kumar Rocker (1-4), who was activated from the 15-day injured list (shoulder) earlier Wednesday, gave up five runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Jonah Heim hit a two-run home run with two out in the fifth inning. Josh Smith followed with a single and scored on a double by Wyatt Langford. Corey Seager drew a four-pitch walk before Baz struck out Josh Jung — the potential go-ahead run.
Langford hurdled Rays first baseman Aranda to avoid being tagged and reached safely on a throwing error by shortstop José Caballero.
Tampa Bay won the series opener, the first of nine straight road games for the Rangers, 5-1 on Tuesday.
The Rangers have lost 11 of their last 15 games following a season-long six game win streak.
Key moment
Magnum hit a ground ball to first baseman Jake Burger that drove in Diaz and Aranda. Rocker was slow to cover first, which allowed Magnum to reach safely, and then held the ball as Aranda scored from second.
Key stat
The Rays have allowed four runs or fewer in 15 consecutive games, one shy of the franchise record set Sept. 16, 2021, to Oct. 3, 2021.
Up next
Jack Leiter (4-2, 3.66 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Rays on Thursday against Ryan Pepiot (3-5, 3.21) in the finale of a three-game series.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
The Associated Press
