Tampa Bay Rays defeat Texas Rangers 5-4 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays put in a good performance as they defeated the Texas Rangers 5-4 at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg on Tuesday, May 31.
Evan Longoria hit a brilliant two-run homer in the eighth inning to win the difficult 5-4 victory for the Rays
Longoria’s hit came just when C.J. Wilson was going strong enough but committed a slight mistake. "I missed my spot. If I hit my spot I don't think he's going to do much with it," Wilson said. "I'm really disappointed with myself. I feel like I cost us the
game for us. It's frustrating."
The Rangers’ Adrian Beltre made a wonderful start in the third inning for the team with his and the clubs first run. Alex Cobb gave up two hits in the inning that gave a 1-0 lead to the Rangers. Sean Rodriguez homered to left to level the score for the Rays
in the same inning.
While the game remained in the pitchers’ hand till the sixth inning as the score stood at 1-1, the seventh inning heralded a change. Ian Kinsler scored the tiebreaking run, while Michael Young made it 3-1 when Alex Cobb was pitching the seventh inning.
The 3-1 lead was soon levelled once again by Matt Joyce with his two run homer as Wilson gave up two hits in the inning, one of which resulted in Joyce’s hit. When the score was at 3-3, Ian Kinsler had another single for Texas to give a seemingly secure
4-3 lead to the team.
However, Longoria executed to perfection a two-run homer in the eighth inning to give a 5-4 lead to the Rays which was then turned to victory by Kyle Farnsworth’s shut-out ninth inning for the Rays.
Texas probably missed their star closer Neftali Feliz sorely as his absence was not only conspicuous but also a determining factor in the result of the game.
"I should have had him up after I brought Arthur in," Washington said. "Just in case he didn't get Damon, I should have had him going. I thought about it, but didn't act on it. I'll take the blame for it all."
It will be interesting to see how Tampa Bay can carry their winning momentum into the next game. The Rangers came close, but once again their offence seems to have let them down at the crucial end stages of the game.
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