Rays Look to Even Series Against Red-Hot Rangers

The Tampa Bay Rays lost in heartbreaking fashion Monday night against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

Tough one. Back at it tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/6YUWu4ThMF

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 18, 2023

Recap

Tampa took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a sacrifice fly from Randy Arozarena, allowing Yandy Diaz to score in the first. In the second inning, a solo home run from Josh Lowe increased Tampa Bay’s lead to 2-0. Rays starter Shane McClanahan gave up a tying two-run homer to Ezequiel Duran in the sixth inning. With the game still tied at two in the ninth inning, Rangers newly acquired closer Aroldis Chapman struck out the Rays side in the top of the inning.

Then, in the bottom half, Rays Reliever Pete Fairbanks threw a wild pitch with a runner on third and surrendered the game winning run to the Rangers. The final score was 3-2.

A wild, wild, west #walkoff

(MLB x @CapitalOne) pic.twitter.com/RKMjVCLU2e

— MLB (@MLB) July 18, 2023

Preview

Tuesday, the Rays seek payback and hope to end the Rangers’ four-game home win steak. Righthanded pitcher Taj Bradley is set to start for the Rays while fellow righthander Nathan Eovaldi is expected to start for the Rangers. Bradley has a 5-5 record on the year and a season ERA of 5.43. In his last start on July 8, Bradley gave up four runs in five innings to the Braves and took the loss. Bradley has faced the Rangers once this season, surrendering four runs in 3.2 innings of work.

Standings

Both teams are currently leading their respective divisions in the American League. The Rays, at 60-37, still have the best record in the AL, but their division lead over the Baltimore Orioles has shrunk to only one game. Texas, at 56-39, are third in the league and are now only three games behind Tampa Bay after the win last night. This series is essential for both teams to separate themselves in the standings with the second half of the season now in full swing.

MLB Standings, as of Tuesday, Jul 18th 2023, and today’s matchups @MLB @MLBstats #dataviz pic.twitter.com/G5wcbBnVti

— Chartball (@chartball) July 18, 2023

First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. in Texas.