ARLINGTON -- The Rays did a lot of encouraging things on Saturday night at Globe Life Field.
After giving up four runs in the first inning, Taj Bradley shut down the Rangers for the next four. The lineup came to life against Jacob deGrom after a relatively quiet first time through the order. Brandon Lowe stayed hot with his third home run of the season, Jonathan Aranda banged one off the foul pole for his first, and Curtis Mead snapped his hitless streak with a clutch RBI double.
But if it¡¯s not one thing for the Rays in this ballpark, it¡¯s another. This time, it was lights-out lefty reliever Mason Montgomery giving up a tiebreaking two-run homer to Wyatt Langford in the seventh inning of Tampa Bay¡¯s 6-4 loss. The Rays out-hit the Rangers, 10-4, but three of Texas¡¯ hits were homers -- including the biggest one of the night.
¡°It just kind of seems that they hit the ball in the right part of the ballpark every single time when they need it,¡± Lowe said. ¡°They had, what, four hits today? And three left the yard. ... It just seems that it's kind of always the case when we come here.¡±
Indeed, Globe Life Field remains an uninviting arena for the Rays. Saturday was their eighth straight loss in this ballpark dating back to July 17, 2023, dropping them to 6-15 since it opened in 2020. Tampa Bay is now 4-4 on the year, having lost three straight after a 4-1 start.
The Rangers did all their damage on home runs to clinch the series victory, specifically by pulling a trio of fastballs over the fence.
Pitching in his home state, fresh off an outing in which he touched 102.2 mph with his electric fastball, Montgomery started the seventh by giving up a soft single to pinch-hitter Kevin Pillar. He struck out Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, but Langford didn¡¯t miss a 1-1 fastball down in the zone, swatting the 99.7 mph heater a Statcast-projected 371 feet to left field.
¡°It's a good swing. I did what I wanted to do,¡± Montgomery said. ¡°I was just trying to get ahead, throw another strike, and he hit it. It is what it is.¡±
Said manager Kevin Cash: ¡°That's electric stuff. Good hitters sometimes are going to get you, and I think that's what happened.¡±
Before that, Bradley gave up a leadoff homer to Semien, walked two batters then surrendered a three-run homer to Jake Burger. With deGrom on the mound, it seemed like that might be enough for the Rangers. But Bradley didn¡¯t let the big inning get to him.
¡°The walks allowed for the big three-run home run, and that's what really got me out of that inning,¡± Bradley said. ¡°But I was happy I could gather myself and go four strong and go scoreless.¡±
Leaning more on his cutter, splitter and curveball after a conversation with pitching coach Kyle Snyder and catcher Danny Jansen, the right-hander retired 13 of the final 15 hitters he faced and struck out seven of them. His five-inning effort preserved the Rays¡¯ bullpen and kept their lineup within striking distance.
¡°I was really impressed and proud of the way Taj competed there after the first inning. He could have derailed, and we could have been in shambles going to the bullpen early,¡± Cash said. ¡°But he settled in really nice and bought us time to get back in the ballgame.¡±
Lowe struck first, launching a solo shot to right-center off deGrom. It was the 129th home run of his career, breaking a tie with Aubrey Huff for third on the franchise¡¯s all-time list. Lowe now sits behind only Evan Longoria (261) and Carlos Pe?a (163).
¡°It's cool. We passed some really big-name guys and some people that have played for a really long time,¡± Lowe said. ¡°It's a really awesome thing to be on that list in general, but there's still quite a bit of work to do.¡±
The Rays rallied to tie the game in the sixth inning. After a single by Jonny DeLuca, Aranda launched a fastball deGrom high off the right-field foul pole to cap an eight-pitch at-bat and make it a one-run game. Kameron Misner knocked a double to right field, chasing deGrom after 5 2/3 innings, then Mead -- the Spring Training standout off to an 0-for-12 start -- greeted reliever Jacob Webb with a game-tying double to right-center.
After a couple quiet (and homerless) days at the plate, it was a good sign for the Rays lineup. It just wasn¡¯t enough.
¡°I am encouraged, because deGrom's as good as they get,¡± Cash said. ¡°I thought we had a lot of good at-bats.¡±