A seesaw finish carried Texas past Tampa Bay, as the Rangers answered an early Rays surge and held on after a late insurance homer.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TB | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| TEX | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Jake Burger supplied the power for Texas, homering twice and keeping the Rangers within reach after Tampa Bay built an early advantage. Corey Seager later added another long ball to extend the lead.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring when Victor Mesa Jr. singled and Chandler Simpson scored, followed by scoring plays from Nick Fortes, Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda. Jake Burger answered with a homer, then homered again in the fourth as Wyatt Langford scored. Justin Foscue's double brought Logan O'Hoppe and Ezequiel Duran home to tie the game. In the next inning, Elias Díaz's single scored Jake Burger and gave Texas the lead, while Ezequiel Duran's single brought Logan O'Hoppe across. Corey Seager's homer in the eighth extended the margin.
The Rays kept pressure on Texas when Jonny DeLuca's single brought Chandler Simpson home in the seventh, but the Rangers' bullpen protected the lead. Trevor Williams earned the win, and Jake Junis recorded the save. Steven Matz took the loss for Tampa Bay.
Texas extended its winning streak, while Tampa Bay's losing streak continued. The game's seesaw finish turned on Texas answering each challenge before Seager's late swing gave the bullpen room to close it out.
Texas Rangers defeated Tampa Bay Rays, 8-6.
- Jake Burger went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored (batting .239 on the season).
- Corey Seager went 1-for-5 with 1 home run, 1 RBI and 1 run scored (batting .227 on the season).
- Ezequiel Duran went 3-for-5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored (batting .277 on the season).
- Trevor Williams allowed 0 runs on 0 hits over 2.0 innings, to earn the win (0-0) (3.38 ERA).
- Jake Junis allowed 0 runs on 0 hits over 1.0 inning, and closed it out for the save (6) (2.74 ERA).
- Steven Matz allowed 2 runs on 3 hits over 1.0 inning, striking out 1, and took the loss (5-5) (5.88 ERA).
Texas Rangers improved to 71-73; Tampa Bay Rays fell to 85-58.