Tampa Bay Rays remain tied for first place
The AL West-leading Rangers (67-51) never really had a chance in this one. Sometimes things just don’t go your way, or at times the opposing team is simply firing on all cylinders, and your chances to duplicate and match their intensity is futile. Unfortunately for the Rangers, the Tampa Bay Rays had one of the team's most complete performances of the season as they defeated Texas 10-1 on Tuesday night.
The Rays pitching, which has struggled at times during the season, was on point and Matt Garza had arguably his best game in the majors. The right-hander struck out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings and earned his career-high 12th win of the season.
“Garza was really good. I thought he got better, actually, and I thought he threw the ball the best in his last inning," Rays’ manager Joe Maddon said. "The velocity was better, the delivery -- everything started getting better, and I really think that going into his next outing, it was good to build off the way he finished today.”
Although Garza finished strong, he also had a phenomenal start as he struck out the first three batters he faced. He did pitch himself into some trouble early in the third inning, surrendering back-to-back singles, but quickly regained his composure to end the inning without any damage.
"I had great stuff tonight. I was locating my fastball well, and my slider came right off that," Garza said. "I got a couple big swing-and-misses and a couple watching, so that was good. The changeup – everything was there tonight. I really can't complain. The results were there – finding what worked and I'm sticking with it. That's just staying aggressive and keeping guys on their toes with my heater. That's where I think my success will lie."
It was just a good overall night for everybody in a Rays’ uniform. Offensively they were extremely productive, scoring three runs in the first, two in the fourth and five in the seventh, to put the game well out of reach with a commanding 10-0 lead heading into the eighth frame. With the victory, the Rays remain tied for first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees.
The Rangers avoided a shutout in the eighth inning as David Murphy singled to center field and scored Josh Hamilton. The Rangers and Rays will continue their series on Wednesday.
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