ARLINGTON, Texas -- Ji-Man Choi hit an RBI double in the 11th inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat Texas 4-3 on Wednesday night, and kept the Rangers from having a winning record for the first time this season.
No. 9 batter Vidal Brujan hit a sacrifice fly in the Tampa Bay 10th. His single in the second had ended a streak of 30 consecutive Rays batters retired since the second inning of their 3-0 loss on Tuesday night.
The Rangers got even on an RBI single by Adolis Garcia in the bottom of the 10th, but then left the bases loaded when rookie Zach Reks flew out to left. The Rangers left 14 runners on base.
Jon Gray struck out a season-high 12 batters over seven innings and exited with a 2-1 lead for Texas (24-25), which reached .500 for the first time this season with its win Tuesday.
Sam Huff and Nathaniel Lowe hit solo homers for the Rangers.
Randy Arozarena went deep for the Rays, and Harold Ramirez had a tying pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth.
Lefty Colin Poche (1-0), the sixth Rays pitcher, struck out two in the 10th before Matt Wisler pitched the 11th for his first save in three chances.
Dennis Santana (2-2) pitched the final two innings for Texas.
Right before Arozarena hit his fifth homer, Yandy Diaz had led off the Rays seventh with a hit that Kole Calhoun picked up near the right-field corner. Diaz was called out on a close play trying for a double. It appeared his hand might have reached the base before getting tagged by shortstop Corey Seager, but a replay challenge by the Rays failed.
Tampa Bay got even at 2 after Francisco Mejia, the first batter faced by reliever John King, led off the eight with a double and scored on a one-out single by Ramirez.
Huff opened the scoring the second with his first homer this season, a 435-foot drive into the second deck of seats in left-centerfield. Lowe went deep in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.
Those solo homers were the only runs allowed by Rays lefty Jeffrey Springs, who struck out seven and walked one in his five innings.
PERFECT 10
The 30 consecutive Rays batters retired were the equivalent of a 10-inning perfect game. A trio of Rangers pitcher got out the last 22 Tampa Bay batters Tuesday night. The last major league team to retire 30 batters in a row had been Toronto - also against Tampa Bay - in July 2019. Texas hadn’t done that since getting out 33 consecutive Oakland batters in June 2016.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: Catcher Rene Pinto was added to the taxi squad, but there was no roster move before the game after manager Kevin Cash said catchers Francisco Mejia and Mike Zunino were both “banged up” a bit.
Rangers: LHP Martin Perez, the MLB leader with his 1.42 ERA, worked out and felt fine a day after taking a liner off his right leg. He retired all 16 batters he faced after being struck.
UP NEXT
Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber pitched only one inning for Texas during his only season with the Rangers in 2020. The right-hander threw a no-hitter against them last year when starting for the New York Yankees. Kluber (1-2, 4.03 ERA) now starts the finale of the four-game series for the Rays against Texas lefty Taylor Hearn (3-3, 5.36).
