Rays 5, Rangers 3. 11 innings
Record: 87-59. 16 games left.
Attendance: 18,467. Global Life Park.
The Rays rolled into Arlington, Texas having won five in a row and 11 of their last 12. It's a team that seems finally to have achieved its potential by grinding out games one at a time, never getting too high or too low. This is as good as they've been in years, better than last year's 90-win team, better than most of the glory years under Traitor Joe Maddon. This may be the best Rays team ever--if, that is, they can keep it up for the 16 games remaining on their schedule. They need to win seven more to reach 95 wins and a probable postseason position. Otherwise, the season goes up in smoke.
Tuesday night's game did not at first look promising. The teams traded scoreless innings until the bottom of the fourth when the Rangers scored all three of their runs, two coming on a home run by Nick Solak, a Rays prospect until he was traded in July to the Rangers for pitcher Pete Fairbanks. The Rays got one back in the top of the fifth, but with Ranger starter and Ray killer Lance Lynn efficiently buzzing through an injury-adjusted lineup, a sixth win in a row began to look unlikely--until the top of the eighth when Joey Wendle tripled off reliever Rafael Montero and Austin Meadows, reigning AL Player of the Week, hit one over the centerfield fence.
Locked at three, the teams got through a scoreless tenth before the Rays, with ample help from the Rangers, scored two runs for the win. The odd scoring came with two outs and Nate Lowe on first. Willy Adames hustled to beat out an infield single. Kean Wong hit a swinging bunt toward first. Reliever Emmanuel Chase fielded the ball but Wong had already passed him on the base path, which forced an awkward throw to first that turned into an error. When 2B Rougned Odor, who was covering first, threw to second, the ball sailed into left field and Lowe scored the go-ahead run. And then for good measure, Guillermo Heredia laced a hard single to left scoring Adames.
Pete Fairbanks was called on to pitch the bottom of the 11th and despite giving up a pair of hits, shut the door and locked up the Rays' 87th win--and his own first save.
In all Rays pitching only gave up five hits in 11 innings. Starter Ryan Yarbrough went seven strong innings giving up only three hits and striking out seven over 102 pitches. He was followed by Nick Anderson, Colin Poche, Emilio Pagan, who got the win and is now 4-2, and Fairbanks.
They won't win all 16 of their remaining games, of course, but at the moment they are definitely hard to beat. The Rangers get another chance Wednesday night.
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