Saturday, 3 a.m.
Guys? Just a clue. When it was pointed out that the Tampa Bay Rays faced the toughest closing schedule in the American League, it wasn't the Texas Rangers people were talking about.
The Rangers have been nestled all season in mediocrity, trailing the Houston Astros by a neat 31 games in the AL West coming into Friday night's game. They had lost games by one run 32 times.
And yet, for one inning, they were too much for the Rays to deal with. The Rangers scored four runs in the third inning, two of them on a home run by former Ray Nathaniel Lowe. The Rangers held on for a one-run win, 4-3, when Harold Ramirez grounded out with the bases loaded in the ninth.
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The Rays left 12 men on base and were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
“We had the right guy up there," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "We couldn’t quite find a hole. The third baseman made a nice play. We had some guys have some really big days. Just not quite enough."
The Rays jumped to a 2-0 lead, but starting pitcher Corey Kluber couldn't hold it. He lost his ninth game of the season (against 10 wins).
"I thought Kluber was good. In the inning when they got four, he did a nice job pitching/ They just beat us."
Francisco Mejia had a big night for the Rays with a single, two doubles and two RBI.
The Rays face Texas again tonight at Tropicana Field (7:10 p.m.). Shawn Armstrong will start of the Rays in what should be a bullpen day. Jon Gray starts for the Rangers.