The Tampa Bay Rays opened their series against the Texas Rangers with a 4-1 loss on Tuesday night, a result that trimmed their division lead to one and a half games after the Yankees beat the White Sox. It was also a frustrating offensive night for a team that had just swept the Cleveland Guardians and had scored only five total runs over its last three games.
Griffin Jax took the ball for the Rays and gave them a quality enough effort to keep the game manageable. He allowed two runs over 5.2 innings, striking out 10 and walking three while giving up five hits. The outing was not enough to offset the Rangers’ early lead, but it did give Tampa Bay some innings in a game that could have gotten away sooner.
Rays offense could only scratch out one run
Tampa Bay’s lone run came in the sixth inning, when Junior Caminero tripled home Yandy Diaz. Outside of that, the Rays never found much traction against the Rangers’ pitching and finished with just one run and two hits in the game. That lack of production has become a short-term concern, especially after the team managed only five runs across its last three games.
The loss was the Rays’ eighth of the season and left them two in the loss column behind in a tighter division race. While the sweep of Cleveland had given Tampa Bay some momentum, Tuesday’s result showed how quickly that edge can narrow when the offense goes quiet.
What comes next
The Rays will try to bounce back on Wednesday night, when Legumina will open for Tampa Bay and Seymour will work a bulk of the innings. After a flat opener, the focus shifts to getting more length from the pitching plan and more support from the lineup behind it.
